RESET?
by Lumoa
Summary: When Frisk sees the sun again they expect to feel happy. They're finally back where they were meant to be, on the surface with other humans. After traveling through the Underground and battling all those monsters…Frisk should be ecstatic that they made it out alive. But they aren't.
1. Chapter 1

_It's a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming…on days like these, kids like you…_

 _SHOULD BE BURNING IN HELL_

* * *

When Frisk sees the sun again they expect to feel happy. They're finally back where they were meant to be, on the surface with other humans. After traveling through the Underground and battling all those monsters they deserve to be happy, feeling the fresh air wafting on their face (cool, so unlike the air from the vents in Hotland)…birds singing (the high pitched tweets reminds them too much of Shyren's song)…the sun setting on the horizon (the color red stands out to them; not many monsters bled, but there was one that did)…Frisk should be ecstatic that they made it out alive.

But they aren't.

Instead, the only thing Frisk can feel is a deep unsettling sickness that sits hard like a rock in their chest.

 _I was only defending myself_. Frisk tries to shake off the pain but it doesn't work. _They attacked me first. I just wanted to go home._

Almost none of that was true, and Frisk almost cried with the painful lie. Technically they had been attacked first, Flowey didn't even let Frisk shake off their confusion at falling through a hole in the mountain before hitting them with those 'friendliness pellets.' But then Toriel- Frisk cringed and closed their eyes as tears began to gather- Toriel saved them from Flowey. Toriel had been kind and protected Frisk. Taken Frisk into her home and given them pie. Toriel was almost like the mother Frisk never had.

 _No._

Toriel had seemed kind, but it was all a lie. Frisk needed to remember that. She tried to keep them there forever. Frisk would have been stuck living in the ruins their entire life, living in fear of being found out and killed by the then mysterious and threatening figure of Asgore.

(In reality Asgore wasn't the strongest opponent Frisk would face during their time in the underground. It was painfully sad how easily he had went down. Despite Frisk's best attempts to shut it down, the niggling doubt in Frisk's mind thought _too easy. Maybe he didn't really want to kill me after all._ )

Frisk just wanted to explore. They didn't want to leave Toriel forever, but they didn't want to be stuck in the ruins either. The idea of being forced to stay in one place forever, even with Toriel, brought back bad memories of Frisk being taken away from their first home and put into that other house- _the foster home-_ with all the other kids with a sad look in their eyes.

(Toriel actually reminded Frisk of Ms. Smith who ran the foster home. Kind, but always looking at children like something bad was going to happen to them. It was scary because Frisk hadn't understood why either of them looked at Frisk that way. Not until later at least.)

 _Toriel's death wasn't my fault._ But it was. Frisk had been terrified at Toriel's blank faced attacks as she tried to drive Frisk away from the door to the rest of the Underground. The knee-jerk reaction to fight back came from all the fights Frisk and the other kids at the house got into. Frisk just wanted to show Toriel they were strong enough to get through any challenges they would face.

Instead they killed her.

All that was left of Toriel was a pile of ash.

 _Was that where everything started to go wrong?_

All Frisk wanted from that point on was to go home. _Home? Where is it? The orphanage? Back to my parents who didn't want me anymore?_

Not that Frisk really wanted their birth parents anymore either.

These thoughts hadn't plagued Frisk so much in the Underground as they battled their way through the mess of monsters awaiting them on the other side of the door. Dealing with the constant barrage of terrifying beasts trying to either kill them or take them to Asgore sufficiently consumed Frisk's mind.

 _Right. They were all monsters obsessed with trying to hurt me. I was just protecting myself._ Frisk took a deep breath and began to moved carefully down the mountain, reasoning with themself as they walked.

They didn't get very far before they stopped and turned around, looking at the now almost invisible cave entrance (exit for them) to the Underground. Frisk clenched the knife they found tighter in their hand.

There were still monsters in the Underground. Frisk fought those who tried to hurt them, but never went after the monsters who ran from them. The strange robot, Mettaton, mentioned something about a scientist named Alphys evacuating monsters. Mettaton almost seemed to spit the words at Frisk, as though it was their fault. Had it been? Did they become such a terrible threat that monsters began to run from them? Certainly as their journey went on Frisk noticed less and less monsters coming to attack them, but they hadn't thought it was because they were _afraid_ of Frisk.

 _Who's the real monster?_

Frisk gritted their teeth and turned around again, stomping angrily back down the mountain. It wasn't their fault. None of it had been their fault. They had only climbed the mountain in an attempt to get away from the other kids. Just because Frisk knew how to fight, didn't mean they enjoyed it. They knew never to let the bullies see how much they were hurting, but Frisk wasn't indestructible.

Ms. Smith always told them to be nice to each other. She never tolerated bullying, but she could only do so much. Frisk tried telling her what was happening at first, the cruelties the other children heaped upon them, but in the end things only became worse for Frisk when the other kids punishments lightened. They didn't like tattletales.

So Frisk climbed the mountain in a desperate attempt to just _get away_ , even if it would only be for a little while. Their previous hiding place (a small clearing in the woods near the house) was discovered quickly and the desperate need for a new, safe place to let out their pain was sorely needed. They hadn't intended to stay on the mountain forever, just long enough to get some precious time alone ( _that_ didn't work out well at all). The bullies would never dare follow Frisk to Mount Ebott, Ms. Smith told them about the legends and disappearances surrounding the mysterious place and almost every single child at the foster home was terrified of the place.

Frisk stopped, panting with exhaustion. Mount Ebott wasn't a very large mountain, and Frisk hadn't made it up very far before falling through the hole, but that didn't mean a child could easily go up and down the mountain with little exertion. The trees were too thick for Frisk to see where they were going except for down.

The trees were so tall, with their branches splayed out around the tops. It was so different from the short, squat fir trees growing in Snowdin.

Frisk shivered. They didn't like thinking back their time spent in Snowdin where they met the two skeletons, sans and Papyrus. Papyrus…Papyrus had been weird. Frisk's stomach clenched when they thought about Papyrus ranting about his puzzles and claiming he would soon capture Frisk. He seemed almost sweet, if albeit a little stupid. He even seemed to care about Frisk, offering his scarf to them when he noticed Frisk was shivering in Snowdin's cold. Of course Frisk refused, but still, it touched them to see the concern on Papyrus's face.

If only he hadn't done the same thing Toriel did and refused to let Frisk move past him unless they did battle. Frisk couldn't believe they were so stupid enough to believe the skeleton was nice. Just like the rest of them, he only wanted to use Frisk's soul to open the barrier.

Once the bones started flying at Frisk, they didn't even think twice before cutting him down.

 _Why did I do that?_

And then there was sans…Frisk really didn't want to think about sans at all. Frisk tried turning their mind back to their journey down Mount Ebott.

They were hoping they could make it back to the base of the mountain before dark, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. Already Frisk could see the brightest stars in the sky begin to shine against the sun's last dying rays. Ms. Smith told them once about how she used to own a telescope when she was little and loved looking at the stars.

"Of course you can't see the stars very well in the areas around the city. That's why I chose to live out a little farther, so I could see the stars every night, even without my telescope!" Ms. Smith said to Frisk.

Frisk agreed with her. The stars were an oddly comforting sight.

Unfortunately, Frisk's mind wandered back to their journey as they thought about the stars. They vaguely remembered there being a few telescopes scattered around the area of Waterfall. It seemed as though the monsters liked pretending the sparkling gems embedded in the cave walls were like the stars in the night sky. Honestly, in Frisk's opinion, there was no comparison. The gems had a hard glint to them which was, while pretty, nothing like the soft illuminating glow of real stars.

 _They're still trapped in there. Those left will never get to see these stars._

Frisk felt their soul break a little bit more (which they now knew from their fights in the Underground was an actual thing that could happen).

What did Frisk really gain from their battles in the Underground? Freedom? Freedom to go back to another prison, one that was just above ground?

Frisk sighed and finally sat down on the ground. They were too tired to move anymore. Their fears and doubts wore them down more than any amount of exercise could.

The monsters were still trapped. Frisk escaped, but at the cost of so many lives.

Frisk sniffled, and big fat tears began to roll down their face.

The bullies had been right. Frisk was just a waste of space. They weren't worth anything. Their freedom wasn't worth all those lives. Frisk should have just given up and let Asgore take their soul, allowing the rest of the monsters to be free. At least then their life would have been worth _something_.

The tears came faster and faster until Frisk was sobbing. The knife clattered to the ground as Frisk curled up and hugged themselves.

It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. Frisk thought leaving the Underground would make them happy, but it didn't. Instead Frisk just felt a soul crushing sadness that wouldn't leave them. This feeling would probably never leave them. They were a murderer. sans was right.

Frisk's memories of that terrible fight flooded into their mind. sans did everything to prevent them from reaching Asgore.

"i can't afford not to care anymore kid." sans said to them. "being lazy is fun and all, but you've forced my hand."

Frisk remembered the searing pain of death occurring over and over again. The only other enemy who forced that upon them was Undyne, but she was never as bad as sans. At the very least Frisk could land a few hits on Undyne, forcing her back. sans never allowed that to happen.

But they came back, over and over even though Frisk eventually began to think dying for good might have been better. The will of determination had always been their strongest trait, even though others seemed to hate it about them.

(Frisk would always remember their father shouting at them "You're such a determined bastard!" when he came home reeking of alcohol and would throw them around. Frisk thought crying out would make it stop. It didn't. It only made their father angrier.)

So Frisk never truly died, and could only keep going after sans until they forgot how many times they fought him. When they finally landed the one hit on sans, they couldn't believe it. Frisk thought they would feel a rush of something when it happened, but only the gnawing numbness lingered within them.

With sans no longer standing in their way, Frisk marched on towards Asgore. But sans final words, called out from him lying on the floor, haunted Frisk.

"so that's it, huh? well, don't say i didn't warn ya kid." Frisk stopped, turned around, and listened to sans speak. They didn't know why they did it, and the skeleton, apparently surprised Frisk was bothering to listen to him, added "you know, you're the type of person who won't ever be happy."

Frisk stood there, stunned. sans watched them warily, and the only sound that could be heard was the steady _drip drip_ of his blood hitting the floor.

 _Never let them see how much they hurt you._

Frisk turned away, moving quickly before sans could see the tears of misery clouding their gaze.

They were the same type of tears now dripping from Frisk's eyes.

If they could just do it all over again, they wouldn't fight. Frisk would let the monsters take what they needed. Maybe they could even spend some time with Toriel again before they went to Asgore. Frisk didn't deserve Toriel's kindness, but they were starving for some sort of love and acceptance.

"I-I j-j-just w-wish I could reset everything." Frisk gasped out. Their voice was hoarse from the crying and not being used for so long. Frisk hadn't spoken since the bullies began their reign of terror against them. There was just no point in talking anymore. It had been easier to remain silent. And none of the monsters seemed to care Frisk couldn't speak, except for Toriel. But in the end she seemed to take it in stride and tried adjusting herself to Frisk's muteness.

 _ **Boop**_ **!**

A loud noise startled Frisk. They quickly rubbed the tears out of their eyes and jumped up, prepared for the threat.

Except…it wasn't a threat. Maybe. Frisk stood in shock, looking at the large, glowing yellow letters floating in front of them.

 **RESET?**

Frisk frowned, confused. _What-is this what I think it is?_

During their travels through the Underground they came across certain points that Frisk felt more determined upon reaching. If Frisk fell during battle, they would find themselves back at those points as if nothing happened after they reached them. Frisk didn't try to explain it to themselves, they just assumed that since monsters and magic were real, then save points (there was really no better word for them) could be a part of the craziness that was the Underground.

After leaving the Underground, Frisk expected the magic to stop. They presumed it was a part of the Underground the world above didn't have.

But, maybe it wasn't the Underground? Maybe it had something to do with Frisk? Something similar to whatever magical force gave Papyrus, Undyne, sans, and so many others amazing abilities like summoning spears or bones.

Hesitantly Frisk reached out to brush their fingers against the letters. For a moment they darkened, and Frisk jolted back.

Frisk breathed deeply. Their throat constricted a little from their crying, but Frisk continued to take deep, even breaths. They needed to calm down to think clearly.

Two paths were in front of them. The first choice was to not have anything to do with the RESET button. Frisk could continue forward, leaving everything they did as it was. Nothing would change. They could go back to Ms. Smith and the rest of the kids and live out their life in the upper world.

 _And have my regrets eat me alive._ Frisk thought sadly.

Choice number two, press the RESET button and see what happens. Frisk had a good idea of what it might do, but as to how far back it would reset was the puzzling question. Would it take them back to their birth? To their first day in the foster home? Or back to when they fell down the hole in Mount Ebott?

It was unexplored territory.

But.

Frisk couldn't live with what they'd done. This RESET was their saving grace, and when it appeared in front of them they knew immediately what choice their heart, their _soul_ , wanted.

For the first time in forever, Frisk smiled. It was a shaky smile, but it was a smile nonetheless.

Frisk leaned forward and hit RESET.

* * *

 _So, I've got a question for ya. Do you think even the worst person can change? That everyone can be a good person, if they just try?_

 _Sounds strange, but before all of this I was secretly hoping we could be friends._


	2. Chapter 2

Frisk opened their eyes.

Above them a small patch of light shone from the hole they fell down from.

They clenched their fists and felt the soft petals of golden flowers.

Frisk inhaled and the scent of the flowers along with the damp smell of being deep beneath the earth filled their lungs.

They were back.

Frisk jolted up and winced as they felt their body complain at the sudden movement. _Ouch…oh, that's right. I'm bruised from the fall_.

It had been awhile since they'd been bruised. Frisk almost forgot what it felt like (almost, not quite). The monsters down here preferred to cut and make Frisk bleed rather than bruise them.

Frisk took a deep breath and shakily stood up. They didn't need to take in their surroundings. Frisk knew where they were. The cavern hadn't changed at all, it was small with the little patch of golden flowers and grass soaking up the little bit of sun that came through the hole. It was lucky the patch had grown there- Frisk wasn't sure if they would have survived the fall from above otherwise.

 _Although maybe surviving was actually unlucky,_ Frisk thought sadly. Frisk suddenly scrunched up their nose and shook their head fervently to dislodge the thought. If the RESET had worked- and Frisk was assuming it had- then there was no need for those thoughts anymore. Frisk would set everything right. Their second chance was here waiting for Frisk to begin.

 _I hope._

Frisk moved forward down the tunnel, flinching as their bruised body whined in protest of the movement. Frisk noticed they didn't have any of the weapons or clothing they picked up on their journey through the Underground. It didn't matter much, Frisk was assuming they wouldn't need them with the plan they had in mind. But Frisk felt a small longing for the comfort of protection each item offered. They almost felt naked without the items- defenseless in their striped blue sweater and old worn out jeans.

Frisk stopped at the end of the tunnel and looked up at the archway that loomed before them. Past this was…was…Frisk frowned at their fuzzy memories. They couldn't remember exactly what was behind this archway.

 _I guess it didn't matter much_. Frisk shrugged and walked forward.

It was dark, and Frisk automatically reached out to the wall next to them for balance. The light from the previous room didn't shine into this passage and only Frisk's determination kept them moving forward into the gloom. They walked slowly, as so not to trip over the uneven rocky floor. It took a little while, but eventually Frisk saw a small light ahead of them. Frisk moved faster, eager to be able to see where they were.

The wall disappeared under their hand as Frisk stepped into another room. The light they had seen was another hole in the earth allowing a bit of precious sunlight into the Underground. Beneath the rays was a small patch of grass and one lone golden flower.

 _Oh no._ Frisk gasped and their heart began to beat loudly. Their hands shook and their legs trembled.

At Frisk's gasp the flower swiveled around. If Frisk hadn't been watching for it, they would have never seen the scowl on the flower's face before it morphed into a big, cheery grin.

"Howdy! I'm Flowey. Flowey the-hey!" Frisk bolted past Flowey before they could finished their greeting. Oh no no no no. They did not want to go through Flowey's little 'lesson' of kill or be killed again. There was no way they were dealing with Flowey unless they absolutely had to.

Frisk attempted to run away from Flowey but they were immediately stopped when a thick vine came out from under the ground and wrapped around their ankles. Frisk wobbled and smashed onto the ground. Quickly they turned around and began to struggle, tearing at the vines with their hands.

"You're a strange one." Flowey's grin was gone, replaced with a puzzled look that was quickly morphing into an evil smile. "You seem to already know what's going on here. I wooooonder why that is?"

Frisk cried out. The vines were wrapping themselves tighter and tighter around their ankles. Slowly the vines slithered back to their source, pulling Frisk closer to Flowey.

"Have you done this before?" Flowey asked in a sugary sweet tone. "Did you do something bad?"

Frisk tried clawing at the ground to prevent getting closer to Flowey but it wasn't working. They weren't strong enough to resist the evil plant. For a single, sickening and desperate moment Frisk wished they had more LV. That thought was enough to stun them, stopping Frisk from struggling. Flowey noticed, and ever the one to take advantage of a situation, Flowey quickly reeled Frisk in faster.

Little white pellets appeared around Flowey. "I guess it doesn't matter now. You're going to die and I'll take your soul!" Flowey laughed his horrible cackle that sounded so _wrong_ coming from a small golden flower like him.

Frisk was frozen, unsure of what to do. A million thoughts ran through their mind. If they died this time would they come back? Would Flowey actually be able to take their soul this time? Did the RESET affect any of this?

Frisk wouldn't be able to fix their mistakes.

Frisk cried out one more time and threw their hand up in a protective gesture; their eyes clenched shut.

"Ah!"

A bright flash of light flashed through the darkness and Frisk immediately felt the vines around their ankles loosen and shrivel away. Frisk's eyes snapped open and looked to the spot where Flowey once was. He was gone, and the vines that had entrapped Frisk were now only deteriorated brown husks, the source of their power gone.

"What a terrible creature! My child, are you badly injured?" A soft voice from behind Frisk spoke.

It was as if ice cold water was poured into Frisk's soul. For a moment they sat, trembling and staring at the empty space in front of them. Then, Frisk slowly turned around and looked at Toriel.

She looked the same. A dark purple robe set over her soft white fur. Kind eyes looking at Frisk with the utmost concern for their safety and wellbeing. The scent of cinnamon and butterscotch so strong that Frisk could smell it faintly from where they were sitting.

 _The robe was splattered with dirt and blood from both of them. Her fur was matted with sweat. Eyes looking at Frisk with hurt and betrayal as they landed the final, accidental blow. The disgusting stench of death left when she burst into dust._

"Please, do not be afraid of me my child. I mean you no harm." Toriel kneeled down and offered one of her hands to Frisk.

Frisk wailed and threw themselves at Toriel, gripping the bottom of her robe and they blubbered out incoherent sentences. Toriel seemed shocked for only a second before she was picking Frisk up and cradling them in her arms. Frisk continued to cry and gripped Toriel tighter.

"Oh my child. It is alright now. There, there." Toriel hugged Frisk and gently stroked their brown hair.

"I-I-I-I'm s-s-s-oooorrryyy!" Frisk blubbered.

"Whatever for? It was not your fault the creature attacked you." Toriel said.

She didn't remember then. If this was a true RESET and Frisk was sent back to the very beginning of their journey, then of course she wouldn't remember the terrible thing Frisk did. Toriel only knew them as a human child who had just fallen down into the Underground. She didn't even know Frisk's name.

Frisk wished they could feel relief at this discovery. If Toriel didn't remember, then surely nobody else would. It was the fresh start they had been desiring. But instead they were overcome by another wave of grief and nausea. It wasn't right! Toriel would never forgive Frisk if she remembered what happened before! She wouldn't be treating them so kindly if she only knew.

Frisk continued to cry and hold onto Toriel tightly. They didn't deserve her kindness but Frisk could only sit in Toriel's arms and accept the love she gave them. It hurt but Frisk craved it so badly that they continued to let her comfort them.

"It's alright." Toriel murmured over and over. Frisk wasn't sure how long they sat there crying their heart out, but Toriel held onto them tightly the entire time murmuring comforting words. Well meaning, but her words only had the opposite effect on Frisk who would burst into sobs again when Toriel attempted to care for them.

Eventually Frisk did finally run out of tears. By this point the little light from the sun was dimming. Frisk sniffed and removed their face from Toriel's robe. The spot they sobbed into was now wet with their tears and Frisk felt a small flash of guilt. But when they looked into Toriel's gentle red eyes they could tell she didn't mind.

"Are you well now my child?" Toriel asked.

 _No._

"Y-y-y-yes." Frisk said. Their eyelids drooped. Frisk suddenly realized they were _exhausted_. The emotional and physical strain of-of just _everything_ had taken its toll.

"Perhaps it would be best if I took you to my home to rest. Would that be alright?" Toriel asked Frisk.

Frisk nodded their head tiredly. They were having trouble keeping their eyes open. Toriel continued to hold Frisk as she started walking throughout the ruins. Frisk managed to stay awake for the first few rooms. Frisk hazily recognized the crumbling stone walls with ivy threading up them. A few Froggits and Whimsuns looked at the little human curiously but didn't dare to come closer with Toriel carrying Frisk protectively.

Before they reached the house in the ruins, Frisk was sound asleep.

* * *

The second awakening after the RESET was much more pleasant than the first. Frisk woke up slowly, curling up tighter underneath the warm blanket thrown over them. They let out a contented sigh, and for a few brief moments they felt content and happy. Frisk held onto this feeling as long as they could, but as the threads of sleep dropped away Frisk became aware of their surroundings.

It was uncomfortably familiar. The room was dimly lit but Frisk could still see the outlines of all the furniture as well as the large piece of cinnamon butterscotch pie sitting on the floor.

Quietly, Frisk hopped out of the bed and picked up the piece of pie. It was still slightly warm.

Holding the pie carefully so as not to drop it, Frisk left the bedroom and walked into the living room where they were sure Toriel would be. Sure enough, Toriel was sitting on a chair reading a book about snails Frisk remembered her reading to them last time. A cheery fire burned in the fireplace giving the room a warm glow. Next to the fireplace was a small bookshelf filled with books. Frisk couldn't remember what books Toriel owned. They vaguely recalled she read a few of them to Frisk before they left the ruins, but Frisk admittedly could only remember her book about snails.

At Frisk's entrance, Toriel looked up with a bright smile. Frisk ignored the painful clenching on their heart at her grin.

"Hello my child. Did you sleep well?" Before Frisk could answer, Toriel noticed the pie in their hands. "Ah, I baked that for you while you were sleeping. Are you not hungry? Or perhaps you do not like cinnamon butterscotch pie?" She asked anxiously.

Frisk shook their head and sat down on the floor. They tried to speak but felt their gut clench up when they attempted to make a sound.

Frisk bit their lip. They had spoken to Toriel before, but now that they were calm they were struggling to form words. Frisk opened their mouth and tried again but only a strangled noise came out. Embarrassed, they ducked their head and stared intently at the pie- too ashamed to look at Toriel.

A quiet rustling alerted them to Toriel's movement. She knelt in front of Frisk and gently held their head up to look at her.

"Are you having trouble speaking?"

Frisk nodded.

"Would you like a pen and paper to write down your words? Or do you prefer to use sign language?" Toriel asked.

Frisk knew a little sign language, but only the basics. They never had time to learn more of it although they wanted too.

Frisk mimed writing on their hand for pen and paper. Toriel got up and plucked a small notebook off the shelf and rustled around in one of the side table drawers for a pencil. Discovering one in the bottom drawer, Toriel handed the items over to Frisk.

Grateful to Toriel for being so understanding Frisk quickly wrote- 'Thank you.'

"You are most welcome my…oh! I just realized I never got your name! Nor have I introduced myself." Toriel laughed. "I am Toriel, caretaker of the ruins."

Frisk already knew that, but since Toriel didn't remember anything they needed to keep up appearances. Already they messed up by crying and apologizing to Toriel. Frisk quickly jotted down an introduction.

'Hello. My name is Frisk. Thank you for saving me.'

"You are most welcome Frisk. I am sorry you were set upon by that terrible creature. I healed your wounds best I could, are you in any pain?"

Frisk blinked and looked down at themselves. Now that Toriel mentioned it, they didn't have any physical pain. The bruises and cuts from the fall and Flowey's attack were gone.

'Thank you for healing me.' Frisk wrote.

"Of course. So, are you hungry? Did you want something else besides butterscotch pie? I could whip up some snail pie instead if you would prefer that." Toriel said. Frisk made a face and shook their head.

'I like this. I wanted-' Frisk hesitated, looking down at their writing. Before they could think better of it, they scribbled 'I didn't want to eat alone. Want to eat with you.'

"That sounds delightful! Why don't you put your food on the table and I will go get something for myself and some drinks." Toriel said.

Frisk did as she asked and when Toriel came back with a slice of pie for herself and two cups of water they ate happily as Toriel chattered on about the Ruins. Much of the information she told Frisk was stuff they already knew, but they were more than happy to listen to Toriel speak. Frisk noticed she never spoke of what lay outside the ruins. Once Toriel started to say "The rest of the Undergr-" but stopped herself before she finished the sentence. She hastily changed the topic to the creatures of the Ruins and what Frisk should do if they encountered one without Toriel.

It was the calmest and most peaceful moment Frisk could remember having in a long time. They tucked it away in their soul, trying to remember every single thing about their lunch (dinner?) with Toriel.

Because Frisk knew what they needed to do next.

* * *

Frisk spent the next few days paying as much attention to what Toriel had to teach them as possible, especially when it came to other monsters. The day after Frisk arrived, Toriel took them to the training dummy and told Frisk to be kind. Whereas before Frisk had ignored Toriel's advice and hit the dummy with their stick, this time Frisk attempted to speak to the dummy despite how silly it felt. To their surprise it seemed…responsive? Frisk wasn't sure but there was a lighthearted feeling in the air after they complimented the dummy.

After their first session, Frisk would quietly slip away from the house when Toriel was sleeping. She never let Frisk out of her sights and their only chance to practice was when she slept.

The first few times Frisk tried speaking to the inhabitants of the ruins were disasters. The Whimsuns would run away, Moldsmals just sat there and wiggled, and the Froggits would automatically attempt strange attacks that made Frisk want to fight back- which was a no no. Frisk couldn't bear hurting another Underground inhabitant, so they tended to take Whimsun's lead and run away from those fights.

That night Frisk was done trying to talk to the monsters. They were already exhausted and running away from a fight with a Froggit. Frisk didn't know what to do to make the monsters like them. They already seemed intent on being scared of Frisk. _To be fair I guess they have good reason to be. Considering I killed them the last time around_. Frisk thought bitterly.

Suddenly Frisk was jolted out of their thoughts as a sudden looming white figure on the floor caught their attention. Frisk tried to stop before they ran into whatever was blocking them, but instead ended up tripping over a small rock.

"Oh…no…I'm sorry." Napstablook looked at Frisk who was now lying on the floor along with the sad ghost. The air between them felt uncomfortable and heavy.

Tears fell from Napstablook's eyes and Frisk winced as the tears hit them. _How is it possible for his tears to fall sideways, hit me, AND hurt_? Frisk thought annoyed.

"Oh no…I'm sorry again." Napstablook said. Despite his apologies, tears continued to fall from his white eyes.

Frisk wasn't sure if Napstablook was being sincere or not. They brief encounter with the ghost before the RESET wasn't the most enlightening encounter. Napstablook allowed Frisk to hit him with their stick over and over, only to end the fight by apologizing and admitting he was only acting like it was hurting him. After all "You can't kill ghosts…you know that, right?" Napstablook asked Frisk.

Frisk stood up, desperately trying to avoid Napstablook's tears. They just kept coming until Napstablook sniffled and they stopped.

Frisk thought about running away. But there was nowhere to run but backwards where the Froggit Frisk was _already_ running from would be waiting. Frisk needed to get back to Toriel before she woke up and realized Frisk was missing. There was nothing to do but stand and fight.

Frisk's mind raced. They could simply keep hitting Napstablook like they did last time. Their hits wouldn't hurt the ghost, and eventually he would disappear when he was bored with the fight.

 _But I don't want to do that_.

Frisk didn't want to raise a finger to hurt any of the monsters. Even if Napstablook couldn't feel it, it felt wrong to Frisk to attack the ghost. So that plan was out.

Napstablook sniffled and Frisk was alarmed to see tears beginning to gather around the edges of his eyes. Whatever they were going to do, they needed to do it fast.

Maybe…maybe a joke? Napstablook seemed awful sad, and if Frisk cheered him up maybe he would let them go?

Frisk held up their hands towards Napstablook in a 'Hold on a second' gesture. Napstablook paused in his sniffling, looking confused as Frisk pulled out their notebook and pen they kept in the little backpack they'd found in the bedroom. They couldn't think of anything really funny at the moment, but then they remembered one of the bad jokes Toriel told them.

Frisk scribbled it down, praying it would work. They turned the paper around for Napstablook to read.

"I'd tell you a chemistry joke but I know I wouldn't get a reaction." Napstablook read out loud. For a second Frisk was scared it hadn't worked, but then a small smile worked its way slowly onto Napstablook's face.

"Heh." Napstablook chuckled.

Frisk smiled, but their grin was quickly wiped off their face when a few more tears fell from Napstablook's eyes and almost hit them. Frisk dodged quickly, their heart sinking. _Did it not work?_

But, Frisk wasn't sure if they were imagining it, there may have been a few less tears than before.

 _I'll try again._ Frisk decided. They scrawled another joke on their notepad and almost shoved it into Napstablook's face.

'A friend of mine tried to annoy me with bird puns, but I soon realized that toucan play at that game.'

"Heh heh…" Napstablook's smile didn't get any bigger, but Frisk felt the air lighten slightly as they had with the dummy.

Frisk braced themselves for more tears, but instead Napstablook said shyly, "Can I show you something?"

The tears they were waiting for did arrive, but instead of aiming themselves at Frisk, the tears fell upwards around Napstablook's head. To Frisk's surprise, they began to form a white top hat.

"I call it, Dapper Blook." Napstablook said nervously. "Do you like it?"

'I love it! You look amazing!' Frisk wrote. The heavy and uncomfortable atmosphere was gone, replaced with a similar feeling to Frisk's first meal with Toriel- warm and hopeful.

"Oh gee…I usually come to the ruins because nobody's here…but today I met someone nice." Napstablook rose up from the floor, still wearing his top hat. "I'm happy…"

Frisk was too.

Napstablook bid farewell to Frisk and apologized for being in their path before fading away. Frisk didn't mind at all anymore. They were ecstatic. Finally, Frisk managed to solve a problem peacefully! If they took what they learned from their fight with Napstablook, maybe they could take on other monsters in the same way. No fighting, just talking and sparing each other.

Clutching their backpack excitedly, Frisk began their trek back to Toriel's house, their mind whirring with the new information they gained.

* * *

Frisk began paying closer attention to atmosphere around them when they interacted with the monsters. When first meeting a new monster, the air was harsh and filled with an unpleasant tension. At first Frisk tried telling jokes to lighten the atmosphere as they did with Napstablook, but it didn't work for any of the other creatures of the Ruins. After a few more failed attempts Frisk fully understood what they needed to do during a fight with Moldsmal.

While not as bad as the Froggits, Moldsmals did have some attacks Frisk needed to dodge. During the battle Frisk was hit and their tolerance for the conflict reached its tipping point. Irritated, Frisk childishly imitated Moldsmal's stupid wiggle dance. They stuck their tongue out at Moldsmal mockingly.

Then, they felt the pressure around them alleviate. The Moldsmal wiggled a little differently at Frisk before settling down. Frisk waited with baited breath for the next attack to come, but it never did. Moldsmal seemed to be content with having Frisk near it now.

Frisk let out the breath they were holding and plopped onto the ground. What happened was a little confusing, but Frisk was a smart child and put together the pieces.

 _I guess each monster needs a different gesture to show it that I'm friendly._ Frisk looked at Moldsmal, thinking. _I just need to figure out what makes each monster peaceful_.

Easier said than done, but Frisk felt their determination strengthen. They didn't need to battle the monsters, Frisk had proven to themselves they could stop the attacks in a nonviolent manner.

Abruptly the Moldsmal jolted, and began to wiggle its way away slowly. Frisk watched it shimmy away, baffled as to what spooked it.

"My child, what are you doing?"

Frisk cringed at Toriel's icy tone. They turned around to see Toriel looking at them with disappointment.

"Frisk, were you fighting the Moldsmal?" Toriel asked sadly. Frisk shook their head frantically and pulled out their notebook and pencil, their handwriting shaky with nervousness.

'No. I was making friends.'

"Ah," Toriel relaxed, "Next time please do not do so without me with you. While the monsters here are friendly, they get a little scared of newcomers. They could attack and hurt you if you are not careful."

Frisk fiddled with the pencil. They didn't want to tell Toriel, they wanted to stay in the safety of the ruins with her forever. But they had a mission and Frisk needed to see it through.

'Wanted to do it by myself.' Frisk wrote.

Toriel frowned and said, "There is no need for you to do this alone. I will be with you."

She didn't understand and her kindness was killing Frisk.

'Have to do it by myself. Need to learn for future when I am alone.'

"My child, I told you, you will never be alone." Toriel tried to comfort them again.

'Need to learn for when I leave the ruins.' Frisk wrote.

Toriel started. When she spoke next her voice was a lot less calm. "Frisk, it would be best if you stayed in the Ruins."

'I need to leave.'

Toriel's face hardened. "I need to go to something. Stay-" Toriel looked around and sighed. Frisk knew she was going to tell them to stay put, but in truth Toriel would never leave them out in the open like this. "Come with me to the house."

Frisk did as she asked, and the walk back home was quiet and intense. When they reached the house Toriel said, not looking at Frisk, "Go to your room and stay there until I come get you."

She left, running down the stairs without even checking if Frisk was going to their room or not. Tears burned at the edges of Frisk's eyes. They clenched their hands into fists and looked down the stairwell.

It wasn't too late. Frisk could let Toriel destroy the exit to the Ruins and continue their pleasant life with her. Everything would be peaceful. Eventually Frisk would make friends with all of the monsters in the Ruins, and they could lead a happy life here.

 _I can't do that._

It wouldn't be fair of Frisk to take this happy life after everything they did. They didn't deserve it. Frisk needed to make things right, which meant it was necessary to face what was coming next.

Slowly Frisk walked down the stairs after Toriel.

* * *

She was waiting for Frisk at the exit to the Ruins.

"Every human who falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. Please do not make me do this." Toriel said with her back turned to Frisk.

Frisk took another step forward.

"Very well." Toriel said. "If you are so determined, prove yourself. Prove to me you are strong enough to survive." Those were the very same words she'd spoken to Frisk before. And Frisk had attempted to show her they were strong enough. They'd proven they were strong enough to beat her.

Frisk didn't want to do that again.

The battle began and Frisk did their best to dodge Toriel's fire. Talking to her wouldn't help (if Frisk could speak at all, which they doubted). Whenever Frisk took a hit Toriel flinched, but her actions remained resolute. She was driving Frisk back, attempting to scare them away from the exit.

Previously Frisk would have stood and fought Toriel. Nothing else worked. They couldn't reason with her or 'make nice' as they did with the other monsters. Unsure of what to do Frisk simply stood there and took Toriel's attacks head on. They wouldn't fight back. Frisk needed to move forward but they wouldn't let Toriel die because of their selfishness.

"What are you doing?" Toriel demanded suddenly.

Frisk paused at her question and recoiled when one of Toriel's fireballs grazed their shoulder.

"Fight or run away!" Toriel insisted.

 _No. No more fighting. No more running away._

Frisk stood, determined, in front of Toriel and looked her in the eyes.

The fight stopped.

"Why." Toriel cried, "Why do you need to leave? You could stay here and live! Why are you being so difficult?" She buried her face in her hands.

The silence rang in Frisk's ears. Haltingly- unsure if Toriel would attack again- Frisk approached Toriel. When she didn't make any move to acknowledge them, Frisk gently grabbed onto her robe and tugged it slightly.

Toriel didn't move.

Anxious, Frisk pulled a little harder.

Toriel lowered her hands and looked at Frisk through blurry, tear filled eyes.

'I love you.' Frisk signed.

Toriel inhaled deeply and swooped down to crush Frisk in a strong embrace. "I love you too, Frisk."

Neither moved for a long minute. They both knew what would happen when they let go.

Frisk was the first to move away. They looked at Toriel expectantly. She smiled sadly and shook her head.

"I understand. You would be unhappy trapped here. The Ruins are no place for a child to grow up." She was wrong. Frisk would be more than happy to spend the rest of their life with Toriel in the Ruins, no matter how small they were. But Frisk didn't want to let her know that, otherwise Toriel might change her mind in letting them go.

"I will put my fears aside. For you." Toriel got up and walked past Frisk, leaving them standing alone in front of the door out of the Ruins. "But Frisk…" Frisk didn't turn around at Toriel's parting words, "when you leave, I cannot help you. You will be alone."

Frisk knew that. But they nodded for Toriel's sake.

They heard her sigh and say "Goodbye my child."

They listened as Toriel walked away, her footsteps getting fainter and fainter.

They looked forward, took a deep breath, and walked out of the Ruins.


	3. Chapter 3

The first time Frisk exited the ruins and saw the snow and the trees they had looked up excitedly, expecting to see the sky. A clear blue sky or a sky covered by a large expanse of solid grey clouds. The disappointment at seeing the same looming cave walls nearly killed them. Even now that they knew better, a part of Frisk still expected to see snow and sky together. It felt wrong, seeing the snow without the sky.

The Underground was certainly strange. Even now Frisk found themselves wondering at how things like snow, trees… _flowers_ …were able to _be_ in the Underground.

 _Maybe it's magic?_

Frisk allowed these ponderings to carry them through the snowy woods. They carefully stepped over a thick branch and continued to walk and look around them. Frisk hadn't given much attention to it before in their grief over killing Toriel. The woods were eerie. Too quiet; compared to the woods above ground which were constantly abuzz with insects and animals. Even the trees were wrong, now that Frisk was taking a closer look at them. They had no leaves or even snow on their branches.

When Frisk approached one of the trees and touched it, it didn't feel like the regular rough pine tree bark that could easily give way under Frisk's fingers. It was smooth and incredibly cold. Frisk scratched at it and winced as their fingernails ached. These trees felt more like stone than wood.

 _What a strange place_. Frisk thought idly for a moment before they almost laughed at the ridiculous thought in their head. The Underground was all around a strange place and Frisk knew all about it already. There was no point in wondering further just because their trees were odd.

Ahead of them, Frisk saw a small bridge crossing a gaping hole in the ground. Oddly, there was a weird gate thing over the bridge with large gaps between the poles keeping it upright. Frisk tried to remember why it was there, but nothing was coming to them.

Frisk froze suddenly as they heard loud cracking noise behind them. Frisk quickly looked back, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Frisk paused for a second, and retraced their steps, curious about the loud noise.

It was the thick stick they'd stepped over. Or, at least, what was left of it. The stick had crumbled into jagged pieces strewn over the packed snow path.

Frisk shivered. They weren't sure what monster could've done it, but there was no doubt in their mind one of the stronger monsters could crush the branch easily. Frisk turned back around and walked back to the bridge at a swifter pace.

Frisk was within sight of the bridge when heavy footsteps began behind them; Frisk moved just a little bit faster.

As Frisk reached the bridge they stopped their fast pace and paused. The footsteps didn't move any faster, they continued the slow, maddening pace.

Frisk probably wouldn't outrun whatever was chasing them. It was stupid to even try. The monster obviously wasn't in any rush; it could be hunting Frisk at its leisure.

Frisk wasn't going to stand there and let themselves get stabbed in the back. No. The only chance they had was to stand and fight.

 _Uh, maybe not fight exactly._

Frisk took a deep breath, prepared themselves, and whirled around.

Frisk stared straight into the startled face of Sans.

All of the air in Frisk's lungs wooshed out as they looked at the skeleton. Phantom pains burned across their body in memory of wounds that no longer existed.

" _You know, you're the type of person who won't ever be happy."_

Frisk couldn't move. Didn't know what to do if they did bother to move.

Apparently Sans didn't have the same problem. After getting over his first moment of surprise, Sans stuck out his hand with a big grin and said, "Hey there buddy, don't you know how to greet a new friend?"

 _Why is this happening? This didn't happen last time!_

Last time…Frisk stumbled out of the ruins, terrified and sickened over Toriel's death. There was still dust from her littered over Frisk's body. Frisk only moved automatically, holding the toy knife they found loosely in one hand while they went forward. They vaguely realized they crossed a bridge, then crossed into an empty clearing with a guard station, and then onto the path towards Snowdin where there were more monsters eager to attack them. It was further down the path that Frisk remembered meeting Papyrus and Sans. The first, excited and eager to catch his first human. Sans…Sans had only stared at Frisk. They remembered him occasionally cracking jokes at his brother but Sans never spoke to Frisk directly until he was standing in their way to the surface.

And now he was here in front of Frisk, smiling jovially but looking a little confused as to why Frisk was just standing there doing nothing.

"Do you-do you not shake hands where you're from?" Sans asked. "It's pretty simple, you just reach out your hand like I'm doing and then you, well, shake!"

Frisk glanced down briefly at Sans' hand before quickly looking back into his eyes.

"Heh, human you're worrying me a little here. I'm feeling a little _shaken up_." Sans tilted his head.

Not one of his better jokes, it was stretch really, but it made Frisk relax slightly. They weren't thinking straight. Frisk spent more time with Toriel this run around so of course things were going to be different. Besides, it wasn't as if Sans could remember what happened during Frisk's first time in the Underground; nobody else had.

Still, memories of their battle dug deep into Frisk's heart and they only gave Sans hand a quick shake (Frisk barely touched his fingertips with their own) before they stepped back a little distance from the skeleton.

"Awwww, human you ruined the whoopee cushion in the hand joke." Sans sighed. Frisk blinked, they were feeling disjointed and confused and Sans' words weren't really making any sense; until he pulled out a large, red whoopee cushion hidden (how did he manage to hide it?) on his hand. Sans pressed the whoopee cushion between his hands and the cushion let out a loud 'PFFFTTHHHHH' as it deflated.

"I guess that joke fell a little _flat_." Sans held up the flattened whoopee cushion and winked at Frisk.

A small grin twitched on Frisk's lips. It was gone in a flash, but Sans managed to catch it and he grinned widely. "I'm glad you found that _humerous_." Sans chuckled.

"Anyways, I should introduce myself. I'm Sans, Sans the skeleton. And you are?" Sans looked at Frisk expectantly.

Frisk shuffled their feet. It wasn't as if it was an odd question, but it felt weird being asked by Sans. Frisk wasn't sure if they wanted to respond.

Sans didn't appear to be comfortable with silence since after it became obvious Frisk wasn't going to respond he promptly said, "I'm guessing you're a human, right?"

Oh, this was more along the lines Frisk was expecting. Frisk nodded.

"You know, I'm supposed to be watching for humans right now." Sans said casually.

This was good. This was what Frisk wanted.

"But…y'know…I don't really care about capturing anybody." Sans went on.

This was not what Frisk wanted.

"It's a bit too much work. I just wanna take it easy, y'know?" Sans wasn't bothered by Frisk's lack of response. "Speaking of which, I think I'm done with patrol now. I found a human, didn't I? Let's head forward, I've got a great spot for napping up ahead." Sans ushered Frisk through the large bars over the bridge, mentioning something about his brother…building them too wide? Frisk wasn't sure, they stopped paying attention to his talking.

 _Why is he being so nice?_ Frisk wondered. Sans hadn't been this kind before. It was making Frisk feel off balance. In Frisk's mind they had been carefully sectioning monsters off into those that were friendly, and those that Frisk meant to avoid at all costs. Toriel was at the top of the first list, and slowly Frisk had added the monsters they befriended in the ruins including Napstablook. However on the other list, right below Flowey, was Sans.

Frisk wasn't exactly sure how to react. They expected Sans to attack them right away…but was that actually right? Frisk tried to think back.

It was frustrating. Their memories were murky with fear and battle after battle with the monsters. Frisk probably wouldn't even remember Sans if it wasn't for their fight at the very end. When Sans was with Papyrus he didn't appear violent at all. Even now Sans gave off a relaxed and lazy air that almost made Frisk believe he wasn't capable of murdering them over and over.

Almost. But Frisk wasn't stupid enough to believe that Sans couldn't change his personality in an instant.

"Hey, kiddo, you listening to me?" Frisk looked over at Sans, realizing he had stopped walking a few feet from behind them.

Frisk cocked their head in a questioning manner.

"I said, I think I hear my brother coming. You know, the human hunting fanatic I told you about?" Sans asked.

Oops. Frisk hadn't been paying attention to his chatter. They attempted an apologetic smile that, from the expression on Sans' face, came out more like an uncomfortable grimace.

"Um, so yeah. Maybe you should go hide behind that conveniently shaped lamp." Sans suggested.

Frisk ignored the suggestion. Before, the words 'human hunting' would have sent them into a panicked tizzy. But now it was exactly what Frisk wanted. They needed Papyrus to see them and capture them. Frisk stood still and waited.

Suddenly, Frisk found themselves levitating a few feet in the air. Frisk sucked in a breath and looked over at Sans, whose eye was glowing the light blue color that haunted Frisk's nightmares. Frisk shivered and felt an icy panic course through their veins.

 _What did I do wrong? Is he going to kill me?_ Frisk struggled; waving their arms and legs around in a futile attempt to dislodge themselves from Sans' power.

"Human you don't have much of a survival instinct, do you?" Sans asked quietly. Frisk stared at him, feeling their throat close up in fear. Sans stared back for a moment before he sighed and gently steered Frisk over to the lamp where he set them down softly in the snow.

Frisk's heart felt like it was beating out of their chest and they took a shaky breath. Sans wasn't going to kill them. He was hiding them. _Protecting_ them.

 _Why?_

"Nyhehe! Sans what are you doing? Shouldn't you be on patrol?" Frisk jolted. Papyrus' voice was LOUD.

"Nah, I'm _bone_ tired bro." Sans said. Papyrus sighed at Sans' pun and then continued on his tirade.

It was odd- no, downright unnatural that Sans was protecting Frisk. Frisk wanted to know why Sans was going out of his way to do this. But it was unimportant now. Frisk had a mission they needed to see through.

Frisk walked out from behind the lamp, stopping Papyrus' speech about how close he was to joining the royal guard. Papyrus stuttered and fell silent. The look on his face was comedic; his eyes were almost bulging out of his head and Papyrus' mouth was opened wide.

"Sans," Papyrus stage whispered to his brother who was standing behind Frisk, "Is that what I think it is?"

Sans was silent. Frisk could feel his stare digging into their back.

Frisk was the first one to move. They went up to Papyrus, who was standing stock still, and tugged on his hand.

"Uh, yes? Hello there small creature!" Papyrus beamed down at Frisk. "Are you a- I'm not accusing you of anything but are you possible- by any chance are you a-a-a human?"

Frisk nodded.

Papyrus let out a noise that sounded like a mixture between a gasp and a squeal.

"SANS! SANS I DID IT! I'VE CAPTURED A HUMAN!" Papyrus shouted.

Papyrus' words broke Sans out of his stupor. "I don't know bro, it doesn't look very captured to me." Sans' voice was unsteady. Frisk decided not to worry about the other skeleton and focused their attention on Papyrus.

Papyrus looked puzzled and then gasped again. "You're right! Human! I, the great Papyrus, shall now capture you!" Papyrus leaned down and swooped Frisk up in his arms. Funny- it didn't feel like Papyrus was capturing them, but rather more like he was giving Frisk a big hug. "Nyehehe! I have done it!" Papyrus crowed.

"That's great Pap." Sans walked over to stand closer to Frisk and Papyrus, "What are you going to do with them now?" He asked.

"I will-! Hmmm. You know, I'm not sure what to do with the human now that I've captured it." Papyrus looked torn. "It was actually easier than I thought. I had all those great puzzles set up and everything!"

Sans grabbed onto that and said quickly, "Y'know, we've got a long walk back to Snowdin. I'm sure the human wouldn't mind doing a few puzzles on the way back."

Frisk glared at Sans and resisted the urge to give him a kick. They hoped Papyrus would disagree and take them straight to Undyne but unfortunately Papyrus was delighted by the idea.

"EXCELLENT IDEA BROTHER!" Papyrus shouted, "Human! Let us depart for the delightful yet challenging puzzles I have set up for you!" With Frisk still in his arms, Papyrus trotted down the path with Sans walking behind them.

Frisk continued to sulk and Sans noticed the grumpy expression on their face. Sans chuckled.

"Don't look so down kid, this is going _tibia_ fun." Sans said.

* * *

Frisk did the puzzles. Again.

Frisk thought it would be easier because they remembered the answers to Papyrus' first puzzles, but…well, maybe it was because they spent so long with Toriel in the ruins, but some of Papyrus' puzzles were different, and there were more of them. And Frisk never seemed to run into any aggressive monsters. Gyftrot and Snowdrake stopped to watch Frisk attempts and were more than happy to chat once Papyrus mentioned Frisk's captured state. Gyftrot even _thanked_ Frisk when they took off some of the 'decorations' placed on it.

Another odd thing was that Frisk was (and they would never admit this out loud) having fun. Papyrus and Sans didn't hang around waiting for them to figure out the answers before. But now both skeletons were by Frisk's side, encouraging Frisk on. When Frisk got stuck on a particularly difficult puzzle, Papyrus shamelessly began to shout out hints. When Frisk began shivering from the cold Papyrus _and_ Sans offered their clothing to warm Frisk up. And this time Frisk accepted Papyrus' fluffy red scarf.

"We can't have you catching a cold human!" Papyrus said as he handed over the scarf.

"Don't push it kid, this weather even leaves me chilled to the _bone_." Sans said.

It was…nice. Really nice. But also really really weird. When they started the puzzles, Frisk often found their eyes straying to Papyrus and Sans, waiting for one of them to lash out and attack them while they were vulnerable. But after they adjusted to the fact that neither of the skeleton brothers seemed interested in fighting Frisk ( _Yet,_ Frisk reminded themselves) Frisk was able to relax and enjoy the moment.

"You seem rather tired human! We are almost at the end of my great puzzles, it would be terrible if you were too exhausted to finish them!" Papyrus spoke up after Frisk finished a particularly difficult puzzle.

"Yeah, come over here and take a break with me kid." Sans patted a spot of snow next to him. Grateful for the break, Frisk sat down.

"Y'know, we can't keep calling you 'kid' and 'human' forever." Sans said into the brief silence that had overtaken the small group. "D'you have a name?"

"How rude of me human! I never thought to ask your name!" Papyrus said.

Frisk glanced over at Sans who had an air of forced casualness about him. They still didn't understand what game he was playing at, but Frisk was willing to play along for now. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to tell them their name. Not that it mattered much of they knew anyways.

Frisk opened up the backpack they stubbornly kept with them even after Papyrus offered to hold it for them while they were solving puzzles. They took out the paper and pencil and wrote 'My name is Frisk.'

"Frisk! What an excellent name for a human!" Papyrus said. Neither Sans nor Papyrus said anything about Frisk's lack of speech. For that they were grateful. Trying to explain their loss of voice would have been difficult- surely Frisk would have needed to lie about it.

"Frisk, huh." Sans mumbled.

"So, Frisk! Are you enjoying the great Papyrus' puzzles?" Papyrus asked.

Frisk smiled at Papyrus' nervous face. For traps meant to ensnare humans, Papyrus put a lot of love into his work. He seemed more worried that Frisk wasn't enjoying themselves which was an amusing idea.

'Yes. I like your puzzles.' Frisk flipped the paper to show Papyrus their words and Papyrus gave Frisk a beaming smile.

"I am so glad! I believe you will like my final puzzle the most! It is my greatest work yet!" Papyrus babbled excitedly. He jumped up and moved around, waving his hands in the air as he went on about the details on his final puzzle. "It is so great in fact, that I can wait no longer for you to see it!" Papyrus decided. Frisk started as Papyrus suddenly grabbed them and hoisted Frisk up to sit comfortably on his wide shoulder.

"Come, let us away!" Papyrus said. Then, looking back with a small smirk on his face he said to Sans, "Don't be such a _lazy bones_ Sans! Keep up!" Papyrus shouted back at him.

Sans laughed and set in a steady pace behind Papyrus' quick strides.

* * *

Papyrus' last puzzle was, quite frankly, horrifying. Frisk's mouth was open in shock. Every means of weaponry (including a dog?) was hanging over a slim and rickety looking bridge. The last time Frisk crossed that bridge, NONE of it had been there. Papyrus' last puzzle was an ice skating challenge with those crosses and circles Frisk stepped on. Not-not _this_.

"I know it's unimpressive but just wait until I activate it!"

Activate it? The puzzle wasn't complete?

 _Maybe they are out to kill me_ , Frisk thought faintly. Unwittingly Frisk tightened their arms around Papyrus' neck when Papyrus made to set them down on the bridge.

Frisk's eyes were glued to the weapons hanging over the bridge. They didn't see the hesitation on Papyrus' face when he saw Frisk trembling in his arms. Papyrus looked down at Sans who only watched Papyrus with a steady gaze.

"Hmmm," Papyrus shifted Frisk up in his arms, "Maybe…this puzzle is too easy to defeat the human with." Papyrus sounded remarkably subdued but it didn't last long.

"Yeah! We cannot use this puzzle! I have standards! There is no class in this puzzle at all! Sans I cannot believe you let me waste time on this atrocity!" Papyrus sniffed.

"What can I say Pap? I'm _bone_ to be wrong sometimes." Sans chuckled.

"Away with this mess!" Papyrus brought out a small remote with two large red buttons on it and pressed one.

Immediately the puzzle whirred to life. Fire began shooting out from the bottom of the bridge and the sharp instruments hanging from the top sliced downwards. Frisk couldn't help a small squeak of fear.

"Oops! Wrong button, silly me!" Papyrus fumbled for a second before pressing the correct button. Promptly the puzzle of death stopped and all of the weapons vanished. "There, much better. Nyehehe!"

"Now what?" Sans asked Papyrus.

"What do you mean, brother?"

"That was your last puzzle. Are you going to tell Undyne you've caught the human?"

Papyrus got very quiet. Frisk was expecting Papyrus to say yes, but he didn't say anything.

"Papyrus, what are you going to do with Frisk?" Sans asked Papyrus quietly. His tone was uncomfortably familiar; the same one Sans used with Frisk when he told them to turn back and not fight Asgore.

Papyrus was conflicted. He glanced between Sans and Frisk. "I," Papyrus was for once at a loss for words, "I…"

Frisk's stomach growled. They'd forgotten about eating. When was the last time they'd eaten? Back in the ruins of course, but had they eaten something right before their fight with Toriel? Frisk was sure it had been longer than that.

Papyrus zeroed in on Frisk's hunger. "Our human is hungry! I also find myself desiring a delicious plate of spaghetti!" Papyrus claimed.

"Sounds good Pap," Sans relaxed and the sunny smile was back on his face. "I could use a pick me up as well. I think I'll stop by Grillby's and pick up some fries."

"UGH. Sans, that food is disgustingly greasy! My spaghetti is much better!" Papyrus said.

Frisk was grumpy. This was another setback in their plans. Papyrus was supposed to take them straight to Undyne who should take Frisk to Asgore who would…Frisk flinched. Best not to think about that part right now.

 _Focus._ Frisk reminded themselves sternly.

Spaghetti. Lunch (or was it dinner?) with the skeleton brothers. Frisk could do that and then, _surely then_ , Papyrus would act the way they expected him to.

* * *

So- Papyrus made Frisk spaghetti. And it was completely disgusting.

Frisk's mouth scrunched up at the first bite and they tried desperately to chew through the chewy spaghetti. Papyrus didn't boil the noodles all the way, so they were still pretty hard in the center. The sauce was kind of gross, as if Papyrus just smashed some raw tomatoes and maybe added sprinkles of leaves here and there. Frisk wanted to spit it out but at the delighted look on Papyrus' face they forced themselves to swallow it.

Next to them, Sans snorted and sneaked Frisk a handful of fries after Papyrus turned away. "Thanks kid, you made his day."

Frisk hurriedly downed the fries, trying to get the awful taste out of their mouth. They chewed as fast as they could but when Papyrus turned around he caught Frisk gulping down the last fry.

"Sans, Frisk has stolen your food!" Papyrus was aghast.

"Naw, I gave them a couple of fries. Grillby's food is meant to be shared." Sans said easily.

"Well don't share too many or Frisk won't finish their spaghetti!"

Sans agreed but secretly continued to give Frisk the occasional fry as they hastily ate Papyrus' spaghetti. Frisk was hoping if they finished it quickly maybe they wouldn't get too bad a stomachache.

Unfortunately Papyrus got the wrong idea. "Frisk, you have finished your delicious spaghetti! Did you want another plate?" Papyrus asked kindly. Frisk was almost positive their face was green as they frantically shook their head.

"Oh, are you full?" Frisk nodded. Papyrus appeared a little disappointed but accepted it.

Papyrus took a long time to finish his food. Sans finished the rest of his fries soon after Frisk was done eating, but Papyrus ate incredibly slowly.

 _I would have never thought he'd be a slow eater. Papyrus seems like the type to stuff his food in his face; while talking at the same time._ Frisk smiled at the mental image.

"Papyrus you're eating a little slow there, you ok?" Sans asked his brother.

 _I guess I was right._

"Yes! I am fine! In fact, I, the great Papyrus, have now finished my food!" Papyrus said, wolfing down the final portion of his spaghetti.

 _Where does it all go?_ Frisk wondered. Sans and Papyrus were skeletons, and Frisk guessed that meant they didn't have stomachs. Where did the food go?

"Great, so you gonna call Undyne now?" Sans asked casually. Both Papyrus and Frisk froze.

"I, uh." Papyrus glanced over at Frisk. "I will…wait until the morning! Yes, it is much too late to call Undyne! We must all be well rested!"

"It isn't that late-" Sans started to say before Papyrus interrupted, "I am tired! So very sleepy, I shall go to bed and so shall Frisk!" Papyrus gave an exaggerated yawn before swiftly moving over to pick Frisk up. It was eerie how fast Frisk was getting used to this.

"So are you putting them in the human holding cell in the shed?" Sans asked.

"Sans! How dare you even suggest that? It is much too cold outside tonight for Frisk to stay there!" Papyrus said.

"So where are they sleeping tonight?" Frisk thought it odd that it looked like Sans was raising one of his eyebrows when he didn't have any.

"With me of course! We shall have an awesome sleepover!" Papyrus declared, and then looked at Frisk guiltily, "If that is alright with you of course?"

Frisk nodded. They guessed it wouldn't hurt to spare some more time. After all, they wasted plenty of time with Toriel ( _it wasn't a waste, never a waste_ ) so spending a little bit more time with Papyrus before he turned them over to Undyne shouldn't be a problem in the grand scheme of things.

Key word: shouldn't. Frisk was going to regret believing in that later.

* * *

Exhausted from their journey, Frisk fell asleep embarrassingly fast. Papyrus watched as the little human fell fast asleep. They rolled around restlessly for a while before finally settling in.

Quietly, so as not to wake Frisk, Papyrus got up off the floor. There hadn't been room enough for both of them in the bed, and as the host Papyrus insisted Frisk take the bed while he slept on the floor. Frisk was only satisfied with permitting this after they built a grand pillow and blanket nest for Papyrus to doze in.

It was a really magnificent nest. Papyrus felt terrible that he most likely wouldn't be using it that night.

Papyrus shut the bedroom door softly behind him. Nervously he pulled out his cellphone and looked at the glowing screen.

Before he could change his mind, Papyrus hit 'SEND' on Undyne's phone number and waited for the captain of the Royal Guard to pick up.

She picked up after two rings. "Papyrus, how's your evening patrol going?" Undyne said in greeting.

"UM," Papyrus winced at how loud his tone was in the quiet of the house and made a considerable effort to lower it, "It went well!" He squeaked out.

"Went well? Are you done already?" Undyne asked.

"Yes! Technically, I didn't finish patrol because-" Papyrus began to say.

"YOU DIDN'T FINISH PATROL?" Papyrus held the phone away from him as Undyne's voice became incredibly loud and growly.

"That's because I didn't need to!" Papyrus tried assuring Undyne.

"Papyrus I SWEAR if you didn't finish patrol because you were messing around with your puzzles again-" Undyne sounded angry. Papyrus was worried if she was this angry already then what he was going to tell her next would make her angrier.

"No! No I wasn't messing around with my- ok, actually I was kind of messing around with my puzzles but that was only because I found a human to do them!" Papyrus managed to get the words out.

"Papyrus I've TOLD YOU A HUNDRED TIMES the puzzles aren't…." Undyne's voice trailed off as she completely took in what Papyrus said. "Did you- did you just say a human?"

"Yes! Undyne I, the GREAT PAPYRUS, have managed to capture a human!" Papyrus said excitedly.

"I can't believe it." Undyne's voice was much quieter now. Papyrus hoped it meant she was less angry. "You managed to capture a human? Are you sure it's a human and not some weird looking Gyftrot again?"

"That was one time Undyne!" Papyrus didn't like to be reminded of his failures. "And yes, I am sure! Sans was with me and he confirmed it!"

Undyne asked quickly, "So where is it? Did you take its soul?"

Here was the part Papyrus was dreading. He frowned and said into the phone, "Frisk is sleeping over at my house. And I haven't taken their soul."

Undyne sounded funny for a few minutes. She was sputtering and kept starting sentences without finishing them. Papyrus waited patiently for her to make up her mind about what she was going to say. Not everyone could be as articulate as him.

"Frisk," except it didn't sound like she said Frisk's name. Rather it sounded like Undyne was saying 'Fuh-rissssk' which wasn't the correct way to say Frisk's name. At least Papyrus hoped it wasn't. Frisk had only written down their name. But they never corrected Papyrus on his pronunciation so he assumed the way he said it was correct.

"Frisk?" Undyne asked, "Is sleeping over at your house?"

"Yes! We did some puzzles and then ate spaghetti together and now Frisk is sleeping in my room!" Papyrus said happily.

"PAPYRUS YOU IDIOT!" Undyne snapped. Papyrus' face fell. "That human is a danger to everyone around it! You should have brought it to me so I could take the soul to Asgore!"

And here was the teeny tiny little hitch.

"Undyne…I-I don't think we should take Frisk to Asgore."

Dead silence across the phone.

"I like Frisk! I haven't met many humans-none at all actually-but Frisk is a _good_ human." Papyrus' voice started out strong, but slowly got quieter as he went on, "If we took them to Asgore they would die and I-I-I don't like the thought of Frisk dying."

Undyne didn't answer so Papyrus plowed on, "And I called you because you're my friend and I thought you should know but-" _But Frisk is my friend too_.

Papyrus just met Frisk that day. There was no reason he should feel this way at all. But Frisk was kind. Even though they looked sad a lot and Frisk jumpy around monsters they were always trying to be nice. They even acted like they enjoyed Papyrus' spaghetti! And Papyrus knew he'd cooked it wrong this time (left it to boil to long), but Frisk still ate an entire plateful!

Papyrus wanted Frisk to stay. He wanted to cook them _proper_ spaghetti. He wanted to get Frisk to smile more. Even Sans seemed to like Frisk! He acted a little weird around the human, but that was alright. Papyrus wasn't one hundred percent sure how to act around Frisk either.

"Papyrus." Undyne finally spoke up.

"Yes?" Papyrus jerked. He was nervously waiting for what Undyne would say.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" Undyne roared. "THAT HUMAN IS OBVIOUSLY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF YOU!"

"N-No! Frisk wouldn't-"

"Stop calling it that! It is a human! Our enemy and the one thing that's keep everyone trapped here!" Undyne snapped.

Papyrus went silent.

"Look, I'm in Hotland right now. I'll start making my way to Snowdin but it's going to take me awhile. Just keep the human there and I'll take care of it when I get there." Undyne's voice made it clear there was to be no argument. "Ok? Just wait and stay safe. Don't let the human trick you, stupid!"

"Undyne, wait, please!" Papyrus tried to say something; anything to make Undyne understand.

All that answered him was a dial tone. Undyne had hung up.


	4. Chapter 4

Papyrus stared at his phone.

Undyne had hung up on him.

She'd never done that before. Undyne always listened to what Papyrus said, even when he was rambling. She would grumble-and if it was really late she might threaten- but Undyne never never EVER hung up on Papyrus.

"She must be really mad." Papyrus said out loud to himself.

Really, really, really, really, really mad.

Why was she mad? Undyne sounded like she was positive Frisk was going to hurt them. But Papyrus wasn't stupid, he was pretty sure he could tell the difference between a good human and a bad one. He's never seen one before but Papyrus is still confident in his abilities.

"Maybe I just don't come across as eloquent on the cellphone as I do in person!" Papyrus continued talking to himself. "That has to be it! Undyne just misunderstood!"

That could be it! Papyrus felt elated. Once Undyne came to Snowdin he could explain everything again and show her Frisk and Undyne would understand.

At least, Papyrus hoped she would. He knew breaking the barrier was important to Asgore and Undyne and everyone else in the Underground but Frisk was also very important! Surely once everyone saw how great Frisk was they would agree to continue waiting. The Underground wasn't such a bad place. Papyrus had lived here his entire life after all and he liked it just fine! Everyone he knew was here, and there were so many places to go like Snowdin, and Hotland, and Waterfall, and the palace, and…and…and Sans liked to go to Grillby's so there was that too!

Yes. Papyrus would await Undyne's arrival, explain everything to her properly, and then everything would be alright.

However, despite assuring himself of this Papyrus spent a long time staring at his cellphone's tiny little light in the darkness.

* * *

Papyrus was surprisingly easy to read. Frisk dozed off, but after spending days fighting for their life during their first run Frisk had become a very light sleeper. When Papyrus moved downstairs Frisk woke up and quietly cracked the door to see what he was doing. His loud voice carried enough that Frisk got the gist of the conversation.

The seeming innate goodness of the monsters never stopped surprising Frisk. They all seemed like such a bloodthirsty batch before.

 _Was that my fault?_ Frisk wondered over and over again. It hadn't seemed like it before but Frisk continuously turning the events over and over again in their head made Frisk feel worse about their earlier actions.

Papyrus was actually arguing with Undyne about handing Frisk over to Asgore. Frisk was surprised. They thought Papyrus would have a good enough reason to take them straight to Asgore, after all the skeleton was constantly talking about his desire to become a Royal Guardsmen.

Frisk frowned when Papyrus said, "I like Frisk! I haven't met many humans-none at all actually-but Frisk is a _good_ human." _Should I have been crueler?_

Frisk didn't want to hurt anyone but being kind wasn't getting them what they wanted. Frisk _needed_ to be taken to Asgore. They needed to atone for what they had done.

Papyrus' conversation with Undyne ended suddenly and Frisk quickly skittered back to bed, expecting Papyrus to come back upstairs. They shut their eyes tightly and pretended to be asleep.

When Frisk didn't hear any footsteps coming back upstairs they hesitantly opened one of their eyes and looked back towards the door. Time ticked by; Frisk rolled over and stared at the door.

They heard a few more noises coming from downstairs but still Papyrus didn't come back. Frisk shifted uncomfortably in the bed. They were wide awake and unlikely to fall back asleep anytime soon as their mind was racing with thoughts.

 _Papyrus doesn't want me to go. But it sounds like Undyne isn't convinced._ Frisk could only hear Papyrus' side of the conversation; Undyne's voice was muffled and even though Frisk could tell she was shouting they couldn't make out any distinct words.

Frisk wanted to cry from frustration. They were _determined_ in their quest but, similar to last time, monsters kept standing in their way. And this time Frisk was trying to do what they wanted! Or at least, what Frisk thought they wanted. Sans and Papyrus weren't acting like themselves. They were acting like Frisk's friends and it just made everything so much harder. It almost didn't make Frisk want to…Frisk didn't want to…

Frisk grabbed a pillow and curled themselves around it, hugging the pillow tightly. Their heart was beating very fast and Frisk's mind was focused on a single thought.

They couldn't have doubts. They needed to go through with this.

* * *

When the morning (or what passed for morning in the Underground-Frisk still couldn't figure out the passing of time here) came, it seemed nobody had slept very well. Frisk did eventually slip off into sleep- exhaustion wins out in the end- but they were riddled with disturbing nightmares. Papyrus was obviously drooping but continuously chattered about trivial things. And Sans…Sans was someone Frisk really couldn't figure out.

Frisk didn't know what the normal was for Sans. They couldn't tell if he was serious, a jokester, or just really good at hiding his true self-whatever that was. During their first run, Sans was serious, intense, and terrifying. This time he seemed much more open and silly but occasionally Sans would get this feeling around him that put Frisk on edge.

Like right now, Sans was nodding along with Papyrus' never ending chatter but something about him was _off_. When he didn't think they were looking, Sans would glance up and stare at Frisk. Frisk caught on, but Sans only continued to stare at the human, forcing Frisk to look away.

Frisk poked at their spaghetti with their fork, determined not to meet Sans' eyes again. Papyrus scrambled some eggs to put on top so the spaghetti was breakfastish. Amusingly, Papyrus cooked the eggs pretty decently. _I guess eggs are hard to mess up. I wonder what other things Papyrus can cook._

"Hey, Frisk?" Frisk's head snapped up. Sans was speaking to them.

"I was wondering, where are you going?" Sans asked a seemingly benign question. Frisk shifted uncomfortably in their chair. "Will you be staying with us another night?" He prodded.

"Sans! Don't be so rude!" Papyrus chastised, "Frisk you are more than welcome to stay with us for a while." Papyrus assured them.

Frisk smiled weakly at Papyrus. They could tell he was also interested in where Frisk was going. What exactly could they tell the skeleton brothers without raising suspicion?

Frisk reached for the pencil and paper they brought downstairs with them. It would be best if they were vague about their intentions.

'I don't know.' Frisk wrote. They hoped that would be the end of the questions. Sadly they were wrong.

"Are you lost?" Sans asked.

'Not lost.' Frisk shook their head.

"You don't know where you're going." Sans pointed out.

'Doesn't mean I'm lost.'

"So if my brother and I hadn't shown up, where would you be right now?" Sans leaned forward over the table.

'I don't know.' Frisk admitted. During their last run they only slept when they couldn't move another step forward. Which meant sleeping wherever they could find shelter. This time Frisk was hoping _not_ to sleep among the rushes of Waterfall, but that didn't mean they had a better plan to fall back on for shelter. They had hoped meeting Papyrus meant they would get to Asgore faster but _that_ plan obviously wasn't going to happen. Sooooo, Frisk needed to wait for Undyne to show up.

But they couldn't tell Sans or Papyrus that so saying 'I don't know' was the easiest answer.

"Sans! Stop asking Frisk questions and eat your breakfast." Papyrus snapped. Frisk looked at him in surprise. Papyrus was pretty tense; he must be very worried. But immediately after the words left his mouth he looked guilty for yelling at his brother. He opened his mouth again, probably to apologize, but instead got a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth courtesy of Sans.

"Saagrpmh!" Papyrus waved his arms angrily as he chomped down on the spaghetti…and fork. Frisk winced at the loud grinding sound Papyrus' teeth made against the metal.

"I got it, I got it. No more being rude to the guest." Sans said in his slow drawl.

Frisk almost laughed watching Papyrus attempting to swallow the huge mass of spaghetti Sans shoved into his mouth. Papyrus' eyes bulged and he smacked the table a few times as he chewed and swallowed. _He could have just spit it out_ , Frisk thought amusedly.

"To make up for it, how does taking Frisk on a tour of Snowdin sound?" Sans asked over his brother's frantic motions. He looked over at Frisk, "How about it kid?"

Frisk was interested. Their first time in Snowdin…well, let's just say Frisk hadn't felt safe in the monster town- even if most of the monsters fled before they got there- so they continued on with their journey and never got to explore. Admittedly, they were curious.

'That sounds nice.' Frisk scrawled out for Sans to read.

He grinned and nodded his head in assent. "It's settled, then, we'll go after breakfast."

* * *

Frisk wouldn't have been so eager to go on a tour if they realized it would be only them and Sans. Papyrus waved them off at the door, saying something about still needing to do patrols.

"As a good-a good Royal Guardsman should! Nyehehe!" Papyrus struck a noble pose in an attempt to mask his slight pause, but it was lacking confidence. A _good_ Royal Guardsman would have immediately captured Frisk and taken them to Undyne or Asgore. Papyrus was positive he made the right choice concerning Frisk but that didn't mean he didn't feel a little guilty about going against the Royal Guardsman code he was trying to live his life by.

Still, despite all his misgivings Papyrus was still insistent on patrols (maybe if he caught another human, a bad one, Undyne would forgive him for Frisk) leaving Sans to show Frisk around.

Frisk wasn't very pleased about that.

Although Sans appeared to be safe, calm, and lazy they were still wary around him. But as long as Sans acted normal Frisk was willing to keep up a polite façade.

"Where do you wanna start?" Sans asked Frisk as the skeleton brothers' house faded from sight.

Frisk shrugged. 'What's around here?' They wrote, flipping the paper over to show Sans the words.

"A lot of stuff. There's Grillby's," Frisk almost rolled their eyes at the suggestion- Sans sure did like this Grillby's place, "there's also the shop run by Toki near the town entrance. Some of her family also runs the inn nearby. We've got a library and some other residences close by. Or if you want we can visit Jimmy Hotpants who works the ice for the Core."

Frisk thought about it, and decided they wanted to go to the shop. Letting Sans know their decision, he nodded and set off at a relaxed pace in the correct direction with Frisk plodding along beside him.

Snowdin was a small town. Frisk guessed it didn't take them longer than ten minutes to get from the house (which was at the far end of Snowdin) to the shop. Still, by the time they arrived Frisk was beginning to shiver from the cold again. When they walked into the store Frisk's body almost melted in relief at the warmth that blew away the cold around them.

"Hey Toki!" Sans greeted the purple bunny monster standing behind the counter.

"Hi Sans. Who's your little friend?" Toki leaned over the counter to look at Frisk and gave them a little wave. Frisk waved politely back.

"Toki this is Frisk, Frisk this is Toki the shopkeeper." Sans introduced them.

"It's been awhile since I've seen a fresh face around here." Toki said. "Are you from the capital?"

Frisk noticed Sans stiffening slightly at Toki's question. Unconcerned, Frisk just shook their head and left Sans and Toki alone to explore the shop.

"Not much of a talker are they?" Toki said.

Sans grunted in agreement. He leaned against the counter and watched as Frisk browsed around.

"Is Frisk family or something?" Toki was starting to give Sans a taste of his own medicine. He almost sighed. Maybe Toki's interest in Frisk was a punishment for Sans being so pushy about questioning Frisk that morning.

"Just a passerby who Papyrus took an interest in." Sans wasn't lying but he sure as hell wasn't gonna give Toki any more information about Frisk. The kid in question was poking around the jackets and sweaters. Most of the monsters living in Snowdin didn't need them, being furry creatures and all, but occasionally people from the capital or Hotland would come and visit so Toki kept a small stock of warm clothes for them to purchase.

"Is that why they're staying with you and not at the inn? Looks like they've got money, my sister could really use the business." Toki continued to prod.

"Like I said, Papyrus likes 'em." Sans said shortly. He noticed Frisk looking over at him and he quickly left Toki to see what Frisk wanted.

Turns out Frisk wanted to buy a sweater. They didn't seem happy that all the child sweaters were striped but still wanted one anyways. Frisk was more inclined towards the cheaper sweaters even though Sans tried pushing them towards the pricier ones.

"They'll keep you warmer kid." Sans handed Frisk a soft black and pink sweater. Frisk took one look at the price tag, frowned, and promptly put the sweater back on the shelf. Sans rolled his eyes and eyed the red and purple striped abomination Frisk was holding.

'Don't want to spend a lot of money.' Frisk jotted down for Sans to read.

"Why not? Looks like you've got plenty?" Sans knew Frisk had a large bag of coins in their backpack.

'Gotta save it.' Frisk wrote.

The generosity of monsters was another thing Frisk was finding weird about this time around. When Frisk started becoming friends with monsters, they began to give money to Frisk. At first Frisk tried handing it back but the monsters were insistent on letting Frisk have the money (some even threw the coins at Frisk when they refused to take them). Frisk thought it was some ritual monsters did for kids- similar to what humans did for children. Frisk's parents never gave them money, and Ms. Smith could never do that either, but Frisk remembered some kids talking about how their distant family members giving them money during family meetings. It didn't make sense to Frisk, but over time Frisk decided it was easier to accept the money.

It never hurt to have some spare coins lying around. And, Frisk clearly remembered one monster who loved money. They weren't sure what was going to happen, or if they would even run into her but Frisk wanted to be prepared.

So-the cheaper sweater it had to be. Frisk stubbornly clung to the one they picked out.

"Kid, come on. You'll freeze in that sweater." Sans pleaded.

Frisk huffed and started up to the cash register where Toki was waiting. Suddenly, they felt their feet leave the ground. As Frisk couldn't feel the hum of Sans' blue magic they didn't panic but rather glared icily at Sans who was picking them up by the scruff of their shirt. "Don't ignore me while I'm talking to you, get the warmer one."

Frisk kicked their legs trying to reach the floor. Sans was a little taller than them. Not by much, but enough that Frisk couldn't set their feet back down while Sans held them aloft. Angrily they stabbed their finger down at the floor.

"I'm not letting you down until you get the other sweater." Sans snorted when Frisk shook their head.

Frisk switched the sweater with the pencil and notebook they had been holding under their arm and violently scribbled.

'Why do you care?'

Frisk landed in an ungraceful heap as Sans dropped them. Internally grumbling they glanced up- meeting Sans' eyes. Sans was frowning at them.

Frisk gave Sans some time to think it over as they got up off the floor and straightened themselves out. Frisk carefully picked up the sweater and their writing tools, all while refusing to look at Sans.

 _I wonder if he would stop me again_ , Frisk wondered, looking over at the cash register where Toki was starting to give them strange looks.

Sans mumbled something behind them. Frisk didn't catch much of it except for the word 'promise.' Officially confused, Frisk turned around and gazed questioningly at Sans.

Sans sighed and shook his head. "Tell you what, we can go half and half on the sweater."

Frisk was starting to write down their protest when Sans plucked the pencil from their fingers.

"That ain't a suggestion kiddo. You can pay me back later if you want but you're getting the warmer sweater." Sans rolled his eyes at Frisk's frustrated look. "You can help me on my patrols or something." Without commenting further Sans took the pricier sweater off the shelf and made his way to the register.

Frisk opened and closed their mouth- blinking in confusion.

Frisk already owed the skeleton brothers too much. They didn't want to owe anyone anything more. But Sans was already forking over some coins to Toki and looking back at Frisk expectantly.

Frisk's shoulders drooped in defeat. Honestly, they should know better than to fight Sans when he was determined.

 _You don't even do your patrols_ , Frisk thought hotly to themselves as they stomped over to the counter.

* * *

The rest of Frisk's tour of Snowdin was much less eventful than their trip to the store. Sans showed them around the rest of the town which Frisk enjoyed. They liked the holiday feel Snowdin had, although when Frisk tried communicating this to Sans he just got confused and asked what the heck a Christmas was.

Sans also made sure to introduce Frisk to nearly all of the inhabitants of the town. Frisk shied away from some of the larger monsters, like the bears and Jimmy Hotpants (who turned out to be a _wolf_ ).

Frisk also did NOT want to speak to any of the monster children. In particular Frisk was trying to avoid-

"Yo! You're a kid too right? I can tell because you're wearing a striped sweater!" One of the more rambunctious kids, a little yellow monster with no arms (who introduced himself as M.K) seemed (unfortunately) eager to speak to Frisk.

" _Yo, everyone ran away and hid somewhere. Man, adults can be so dumb sometimes, haha! Don't they know we've got Undyne to protect us?"_

 _M.K was so blindly kind. Frisk never corrected them on their assumption of Frisk being a monster. It was pleasant not having to fight for a while._

 _And it was nice having a friend, for the short time M.K believed in Frisk._

"Dude, where are you from? Are you from the capital? Or Waterfall? Have you seen Undyne? Have you MET Undyne?" Frisk was saved from answering when the monster kid tripped and fell flat on their face. Concerned, Frisk moved to help them up but M.K quickly got up on their own two feet.

"Oops! Haha, man I keep doing that. But I'm fine, don't worry about me! I'm tough stuff just like Undyne!"

" _Y-Y-You'd b-b-better stop r-r-r-right w-where you are!" M.K demanded. "F-F-Fight me human! I'll be strong, just like Undyne!"_

 _Frisk's soul felt like lead._

 _They knew this would happen. They knew it and still allowed M.K to get close to them. All the monsters wanted from Frisk was their soul. Nothing else mattered to them. No kindness or friendship could stop them._

 _And for some reason that cut Frisk deeper than any of the wounds they received._

M.K started jumping excitedly from foot to foot. "Yo! Do you want to go play at Waterfall with me and some of the other kids? I'm hoping we'll see Undyne but we can play with the echo flowers too! Or if you like hide and seek we can do that in the rushes!"

Frisk hesitated.

A heavy hand settled on their shoulder. Sans leaned down slightly and said, "Sorry M.K. Frisk has to stay with me today. But maybe you kids can play tomorrow."

M.K looked disappointed but perked up at the promise of tomorrow.

"Cool dude! Sounds good, see you tomorrow then!" M.K started off towards another group of children beginning to gather a little ways away. Frisk watched, slightly amused, as they fell again but promptly got up and shook away the snow stuck on their face.

"You're very good at making friends." Sans said to Frisk.

 _No I'm not._ Frisk could never remember making friends easily. Nobody ever liked them very much. And if they ever did like Frisk at the beginning, they would be sure to hate Frisk soon after.

On their paper they just wrote 'Thanks.'

"I'm getting hungry, you wanna go to Grillby's to get some grub?" Sans asked. Frisk's stomach gurgled in response and Sans chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes then."

"PAPYRUS!"

Sans and Frisk both stiffened at the same time.

"How did she get here so fast?" Sans breathed.

"PAPYRUS WHERE ARE YOU?"

Much like Sans, Undyne was another bad memory from the past. As Frisk gained strength their first time in the Underground they were able to defeat some monsters without dying and being forcefully resurrected. Sans and Undyne were the painfully notable exceptions to this.

"Kid. Grillby's. Get moving." Sans pushed Frisk forward.

"PAPYRUS!" Frisk took a fearful step away. They could feel the places where Undyne's spears pierced their body and soul _throb_.

"Frisk!" Sans grabbed Frisk's arm and bodily pulled them towards the cheery and inviting restaurant. Some of the monsters around them were turning to see what Undyne was shouting about.

They hadn't even gotten close to Grillby's when Undyne came into sight.

Frisk noticed she wasn't wearing her helmet. They could see her blue fish face and bright red hair flashing against the white, snowy backdrop of Snowdin. She was stomping angrily through the snow, shouting and turning her head back and forth looking for Papyrus.

Frisk knew when she caught sight of them. Undyne stopped dead in her tracks and _glowered_ at them. Sans stopped trying to move and Frisk felt him grip their arm tighter.

"HUMAN," Undyne bellowed across the small space between them, "I KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE AND YOU WILL PAY FOR IT!"

Frisk's heart stopped. Undyne knew what they had done? She-She remembered _everything_? How could Undyne know, nobody else remembered Frisk! Why did Undyne-

Frisk's thoughts were interrupted when they felt the dizzying, rushing, tingling static of magic wash over them. Their glowing red soul was yanked out of them.

Their fight with Undyne had begun.


	5. Chapter 5

The first time Frisk saw their soul they thought it was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen. It was a beautiful bright red that glowed radiantly in the darkness of the Underground. And even though during some fights their soul would change colors (a glittering blue, a vibrant green, a blazing yellow) it never lost its brilliance.

Frisk didn't know why. It didn't feel right to have such a beautiful soul when their hands were covered in the dust of hundreds of murdered monsters.

Still, it remained and even though Frisk had seen it numerous times before they still felt entranced by the red heart in front of them.

Undyne swung her spear and their soul took on a green tinge around the edges before it bled completely into the red of their soul. Same as last time, once their soul turned green Frisk felt themself become stuck to the ground; a small shield popped up in front of their soul.

It was odd that a monster like Undyne would give her enemies a way to protect themselves. Frisk had expected something different, but the speed and sharpness of her spears quickly put away any ideas of the shield giving them an edge over her. Undyne was merciless and her determination was possibly only second to Frisk's.

After all, she was the only monster Frisk knew of who was able to pull herself back from death.

 _"_ _Deep, deep in my soul. There's a burning feeling I can't describe. A burning feeling that WON'T let me die."_

 _"_ _I'll show you just how determined monsters can be."_

"Undyne!" Frisk heard Sans shout. All around them other monsters were scattering, running as fast as they could away from the fight.

The rush of magic whirling around them made Frisk feel sick to their stomach. It was strong and made their skin prickle like hundreds of tiny needles were stuck in their skin. Frisk was breathing heavily and staring straight at Undyne who was ignoring Sans.

Several spears materialized around Undyne and shot towards Frisk. Without realizing what they were doing, Frisk frantically tried to block them as the spears stabbed at them from all sides.

For a moment Frisk thought they succeeded, but suddenly a shooting pain spread from their soul into the rest of their body. Frisk hissed and glanced backwards at the one spear that had gotten past their defense.

Another rush of magic caught Frisk's attention and they glanced over to where Sans had been standing just a second ago. The short skeleton was gone.

A surprising rush of bitterness filled Frisk. They should have expected Sans to run. He was strong but was easy to kill if you could hit him at least once. He might have been acting friendly but when it came down to it, Frisk meant very little compared to his own life.

 _Which doesn't matter because Undyne being here is what I need!_ Frisk scolded themselves. In the heat of battle they had forgotten their goal.

After her first attack, Undyne appeared to be waiting for something. Frisk met her eyes and cocked their head in question.

Apparently this was the wrong thing to do because Undyne gritted her teeth and a wild look entered her eyes.

"Are you looking down on me?" She bellowed at Frisk, releasing another volley of spears.

This time Frisk didn't bother blocking any of them. A few spears still hit their shield because of Undyne's attack formation, but Frisk bit their lip until it started to bleed due to the pain of the other spears hitting them.

 _It hurts!_ Frisk wanted to scream. Tears gathered swiftly in their eyes and dripped down their face. But Frisk continued to stand there, eyes closed- hunched up in pain as the spears hit them. The moment the attack stopped Frisk took a deep breath, unaware they had been holding it to begin with.

Frisk looked up and wiped away the tears. Through their blurry eyes they could see Undyne still standing in front of them. She was shaking.

"What is with your wimpy goody-two-shoes-shtick?" Undyne shouted. "Show me your true self human!"

Frisk wouldn't, not again. They shook their head and stood braced for the next attack.

Frisk wasn't exactly sure what would happen if Undyne managed to kill them this time. Would they go back to a certain point again like last time? Or would their soul be taken and used to free the monsters? Frisk hoped for the latter but based off experience it was more likely they would have to re-do the entire morning over again. Which was unfortunate and a waste of time…even though technically time would be rewinding itself and thus no time would really be lost.

Still, Frisk didn't want to have to constantly re-do events again. Frisk would have to be more careful next time. They wanted Undyne to take them to Asgore and the barrier. She was so angry right now though that they doubted she would listen to reason- and that was even if Frisk could communicate with her somehow; they suspected Undyne wouldn't wait for Frisk to write down what they wanted.

 _So I guess I'm dying…again_.

It was unpleasant and a terrifying experience. A writhing mass of blackness enveloping them. Someone speaking garbled, unintelligible words. A bright sparking light that Frisk can't help but reach for in the darkness. And then…waking back up before their death feeling as if someone had doused them with cold water.

Frisk would rather not go through it again, but at the rate this battle was heading it was looking like they had no choice. Frisk took a deep breath and stood their ground, meeting Undyne's glare with a determined look of their own.

"Fine then! No matter what you do I'll still take your soul. For Asgore…for all the monsters!" Undyne raised her hand in the air. A large spear materialized in her hand and Undyne swung it downwards-aiming it straight at Frisk.

Undyne moved, preparing to finish Frisk off. But before she took five steps a sudden barrier of blue bones rose up to surround her.

Undyne screeched to a halt and stared at the bones. Frisk thought it impossible for her to get angrier, but apparently they were wrong. Undyne's face twisted in fury and…something else Frisk couldn't quite place.

"PAPYRUS!" Undyne gripped her spear tightly, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

"Undyne I am so sorry! I must have not expressed myself properly!" Papyrus said.

Frisk wanted to turn around and look, but as any movement would be incredibly painful, they chose to keep their gaze on Undyne.

"Maybe you should make things clear to her now bro." Was that Sans? It sounded like Sans. He must have gone to get Papyrus when Undyne showed up.

Frisk's heart leapt at the idea of both the skeleton brothers being there.

 _Wait. No that's shouldn't be happening. Stupid traitor heart_.

"Exactly brother! Undyne, I, the great Papyrus, have decided this human is not a threat to monsters! In fact they are quite nice and would make an excellent friend. I may go so far as to say they could be a _best_ friend!" Papyrus said.

"I told you Papyrus they're tricking you!"

"Frisk would never do that!" Papyrus said. He stomped forward into Frisk's sight with Sans in tow.

"Papyrus you're too naïve!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

If Frisk wasn't so close to dying they might have rolled their eyes.

"Enough!" Undyne growled. She raised her spear and swiped it across the blue bones, slicing them in half. The magic holding the bones together flickered and faded, leaving Undyne no longer caged. Frisk noticed at the same moment their soul was no longer green and instead went back to its usual red.

"Dangit! I thought I would be able to keep it together." Papyrus muttered.

"You're still learning, give it some time." Sans said, patting his brother's arm.

"You're being foolish!" Undyne said.

"I think we could learn something valuable from Frisk!" Papyrus argued back.

"Valuable? You know what would be more valuable to everyone?" Undyne looked away from Papyrus and back to Frisk, "IF YOU WERE DEAD! That's right, human! Your continued existence is a crime! Your life is all that stands between us and our freedom! Everyone's been waiting their whole lives for this moment!"

It was true. Frisk wasn't worth much alive, but they could free all the monsters with their soul. They could rectify the mistakes they made before.

Frisk hung their head. It was true. It was true. It was true. It was true. It was-

"THAT'S A LIE!"

Frisk jerked their head up. Papyrus was glaring at Undyne with tears in his eyes. "Frisk is valuable to me now! They're my friend, and Sans'!"

Sans nodded in agreement.

"A-And they could be your friend too Undyne!" Papyrus continued, "And I know everyone's freedom is important but so is friendship! Friendship can conquer all! I think…I mean isn't that what happens in those books and shows you told me about? The one's the scientist lady showed you? Don't you believe in that?"

Undyne's face contorted for a second before settling into a bitter look. "Of course I believe in Alphys' stories. They're true, power comes from friendship and lo-lov-lots of fighting." Undyne reddened.

"But," Undyne's face hardened, "sometimes you have to make sacrifices. The monsters of the Underground are depending on me! We need to be freed Papyrus! And this little human is the one thing standing between us and the surface!"

"Undny-"

"NO! No more talking!" Undyne slammed her spear on the ground and instantly rows of spears came up between Frisk and the skeleton brothers.

Papyrus and Sans jerked back and continued to move away as blue circles glowed on the ground beneath their feet. Frisk watched stunned as they moved further back to avoid being hit. They hadn't thought Undyne would attack any monster. Sans and Papyrus only had a few seconds to realize where the spears were about to appear and move out of the way.

 _Why is she-oh. Oh, that's what she's doing._

Frisk had a moment of realization before several things happened at once.

They caught a movement out of the corner of their eye. A lout shout-

"Ohmygosh its Undyne!"

Undyne's footsteps rapidly getting closer as she ran at full speed towards Frisk with her spear pointed at them.

And M.K- _you idiot!_ \- jumping almost right in front of Frisk saying "Who's she fighting?"

It all happened too quickly. Frisk didn't see Undyne's eyes widening in horror; her momentum taking her too fast to stop in time. They didn't hear Papyrus or Sans' shouts.

Frisk just grabbed M.K from behind, spun them around and _pushed_ M.K as far away as they possibly could.

Which ended up with Frisk earning a magical spear going right through them.

Frisk didn't know what having a real spear go through you felt like, but their previous experience with Undyne's magical spears certainly _hurt_ enough that they assumed it was probably worse than the real thing.

But this, having one strike through them at such close range, was _agony_.

Frisk fell to the ground, their vision blackening as the pain came to stay. They were dimly aware of someone shouting…many people shouting? Someone's boots in front of their face and then-

The blackness consumed them.

* * *

 ** _Ardk Aderrk Yte Akrder_**

 ** _Eht Dnraessk Eepks Rigowng_**

 ** _Hte Sohwasd Utcintg Eerped_**

Frisk wanted to close their eyes and clamp their hands over their ears. Anything to not see the darkness. To not hear the noise.

They were drifting, as always. Unable to plot their own course and left to the will of darkness.

" ** _Own htat s otn quite teru. Si it?_** "

Frisk felt hopelessness descend upon them. Frisk didn't even know why they were bothering with this. Why go through this again and again for no reason? Why had they even bothered going up against monsters more powerful than themselves the first time around?

Really, where had it gotten them? Frisk ended up broken and alone.

 _Why didn't I just die the first time I was killed? Why did I keep coming back?_

Frisk didn't want to come back anymore. What would they even do? Undyne would just kill them again, or take them to Asgore where they would die anyways. Why did they have to keep repeating this over and over?

They were done. They had no purpose. They should just stop even trying.

" ** _Atht's a trrhae rcelu yaw ot hitkn baotu ryufosel._** "

Frisk wanted to whimper but no sounds could escape their lips in the void. The garbled mess of noises kept intruding upon their thoughts.

" ** _Eagrbld sesm? Ahtt's ahertr edru fo uoy Tllsi, ot be iraf I clodu elhp ouy htiw ihst one hgtin. I m bedor, adn you ev ebne geeiitnrnts. It ll eb naelfbiiec fro eth htbo fo su_**."

Frisk noticed a break in the black. They were expecting the usual bright light, but as they drew closer they saw it was a figure instead.

The figure was an odd white blob of a creature. It reminded Frisk vaguely of a skeleton but calling it that would be incorrect. It had two large eye sockets, one wide open while the other was shaped like a crescent moon. From the eyes large cracks emerged and squiggled up and down the face. The wide smile made Frisk think of a jack-o-lantern grin.

Frisk wanted to back away but as always they were unable to control their movements in the void. Slowly they approached the figure until Frisk was only a small distance away. To their relief they stopped there.

Frisk's relief quickly melted into horror when the creature held up a pale hand (if you could call the white glob a hand) and reached out to touch them.

Briefly the hand brushed across Frisk's head. It wasn't like anything Frisk had felt before. It was as if someone had taken glue and made it into a slightly sticky jelly.

"Can you understand my words now?"

Frisk dearly wished they could scream or run or just _move_ in any way possible. Not being able to react was just…it felt very unnatural.

"I would expect so. It's an odd feeling existing across all time and space. Uncomfortable, certainly. But if you spend enough energy you can manage. I have."

Was this thing reading Frisk's mind?

"No. Simply taking in your stronger thoughts and feelings as you are mine. Neither of us is speaking out loud, but our emotions echo in our souls…or at least, your soul. I don't know if I truly have a soul anymore."

Frisk didn't really understand what that meant.

The creature drew itself up for a second before settling back down. It took Frisk a moment to realize it was sighing.

"Yes. Mind reading. If you wish to dumb it down." The figure's grin lowered a little.

Oh. Ok.

"What-Who are you?" Frisk thought directly at the creature.

"W.D. Gaster was my name."

The name bothered Frisk. They had heard it somewhere before, but they couldn't remember where or why the name meant anything.

"My old self is currently unimportant. Or it is and it isn't in this moment I am speaking to you. Sometime it will be necessary. In another time or place knowing who I was before, and who I still am in some lines will be important. Whether or not you need the information is left to be determined here. I am scattered but I am not able to predict others actions." Gaster told Frisk.

Again, Frisk did not understand a single meaning of what he said. They were left confused.

Gaster did the sighing motion again and, to Frisk's surprise, reached up and tapped them on the nose. It was a startling teasing gesture.

"I forget how young this you is. You've been through much and yet you're still a child."

Frisk slightly resented being called just a child. Normally they would have hidden this feeling but in this expanse all their emotions were on display. Luckily, so was Gaster's. Frisk could feel the amusement radiating from him.

"And because you are still a child," there was a softness in Gaster's next thought, "that you should forgive yourself for what was once done."

Wrong. What Frisk had done was unforgivable.

"Child, you were not at fault and neither were the monsters. You defending yourself, and they trying to break free of their chains- it was simply an unfortunate twist of fate."

"But…But I…I have to fix what I've done." Frisk managed to communicate to Gaster.

Gaster cocked his head and looked thoughtful. It wasn't a pleasant look on his face. The smile thinned and his larger eye narrowed.

"Have you not done that already with the RESET?" Gaster asked. "Everything has gone back to what it once was."

That was true. But it wasn't enough.

"Enough for who?" Gaster prodded.

Frisk really, really hated this mind reading thing. They had never been the type of kid to share their emotions or thoughts freely. Years of abuse taught them to keep their heart to themselves. It made Frisk deeply uncomfortable to think that their mind was on display for Gaster to see into.

Gaster was probably reading Frisk's thoughts right now. But if he was, he chose not to mention Frisk's sideline of thoughts away from their primary conversation. He was still waiting for Frisk to respond to his current question. It was a small gesture but Frisk appreciated it.

"It just isn't enough!" Frisk repeated.

"Hmmm," Gaster's thinned smile slowly morphed into a flat line, "You don't understand yet, do you?"

"Understand what?" Frisk hoped Gaster would give them the answer but suddenly it felt like they were pressing against a wall. It took them a second to realize Gaster had closed his mind off to them. It was both a relief and disturbing. Frisk wanted to know what Gaster was keeping from them.

"You need to figure it out for yourself." Frisk had had enough of surprises for one lifetime. Just when they thought nothing else could do it, Gaster managed to shock them once more. A voice so quiet that Frisk would have never been able to hear it anywhere where noise existed. Even the faintest breath of wind would have drowned out Gaster's speaking voice.

It was almost hypnotic, watching his mouth barely move as he spoke, "If I told you…I've done it before and it never turns out well. There are things that you must experience to understand."

"That's not fair!" Frisk wanted to wail.

Gaster shook his head and then, ever so slowly, reached up to pat Frisk's head.

"There, there child. If anyone can do this, it's you."

It was meant to be comforting but Frisk just felt terrible. Nothing Gaster could say or do would make the aching…searing- _fire like pain ohmygodithurts_!

Frisk's body howled with pain. Unable to offer even fake comfort to their body Frisk could only look at Gaster as their soul throbbed with torment.

"Well, this is a first," Gaster observed, "Apparently your soul wasn't as damaged as we thought."

What? What was Gaster talking about now? He said something about their soul? Frisk couldn't pay much attention as the pain took over all their senses.

"What it means, child, is that you're being called back. And not by the usual methods." Gaster looked intrigued.

What? Wh-

Frisk woke up.


	6. Chapter 6

**SAVE THEM**

 **PLEASE DON'T LET FRISK DIE**

 **FRISK, STAY DETERMINED**

Immediately after they opened their eyes Frisk promptly regretted waking up.

If Frisk could have had a coherent thought it would have been _I need to stop getting into fights._ But since their body was screaming at them from every fiber of their being their actual thought process was _AUGHAHHHHHUUUU_.

"Frisk! Thank goodness!"

"Doc, they've woken up!"

"Ok, everyone move out of the way give them some space." Through narrowed eyes filled with tears Frisk watched blurred shapes move in and out of their vision. They tried blinking to clear their eyes but regretted it once they saw the monster standing in front of them prodding at Frisk with a wispy grey appendage.

Frisk attempted to move backward but as any movement made the pain even _worse_ they were forced to stay where they were.

Frisk's distress was still apparent, and to their relief Papyrus was suddenly pushing the other monster out of the way.

"Frisk! Do not be afraid! This is Doctor Big Mouth and she will assist you in your recovery!"

"Which I can't do if you're standing in the way!" More grey tendrils appeared and shooed Papyrus away.

"But they were obviously frightened!" Papyrus protested while still allowing himself to be moved.

"Yes, and I thank you for calming them down but the child still needs my attention." The doctor stood in front of Frisk again and they still couldn't help a small flinch. Doctor Big Mouth was certainly a literal name for the plant monster. She had no eyes on her face-actually she had no face at all except for a giant, toothy mouth.

Big Mouth turned back to Frisk and softened her voice, "You must rest now. You've managed to pull through the worst of it but there's still quite a lot that needs to be done."

Frisk stared at Big Mouth, hoping she wasn't waiting for a response.

Big Mouth sighed and slowly caressed Frisk's temples with her tendrils. "Sleep, it will help the healing process."

Frisk doubted they could fall back asleep with the amount of torment racing through body but as Big Mouth continued to gently touch Frisk they realized their eyelids were growing heavy and a numb feeling was creeping slowly through their veins.

Before Frisk could feel any sense of relief they were sound asleep.

* * *

Frisk yawned and rolled over, clutching the warm blanket closer to them. Their toes peeked out from under the blanket for a second and Frisk quickly withdrew them back under the blanket; causing a small amount of cool air to enter their cozy cove of sheets. Frisk shivered slightly at the cold but relaxed once the heat completely enveloped them again.

Frisk continued to doze.

They felt safe. Warm. Content.

Frisk began dropping off back to sleep.

In the back of their mind Frisk felt a tingling of…of…something. Something important they needed to do or remember. But Frisk was so comfortable and sleepy they couldn't be bothered to pursue it.

Frisk fell back asleep.

* * *

Frisk woke up again, feeling well rested and snug in bed. They curled up, not wanting to lose the serene feeling. But, as Frisk became more awake, the memories, the fear, the… the pain came back to them.

Frisk jerked and sat up, staring wildly around them. They were- well, Frisk wasn't sure where they were. It was a simple bedroom, obviously not Papyrus', with the only two distinctive features being a _huge_ fireplace (with no fire currently in it) taking up one of the walls, and apparent scorch marks all over the room.

Frisk had never been here before. They didn't recognize anything. And they were alone.

Hesitantly, Frisk tried moving. Now that they remembered their fight with Undyne and the accompanying pain afterwards they were more reluctant to move. The memory of pain was fresh in their minds and the irrational fear that they would still be hurt (even though Frisk had shifted around in bed and that didn't seem to cause any issues) made Frisk nervous about shifting even an inch.

Frisk gently removed the blanket from their body. The outside air was chilly but except for the lack of shoes and socks, Frisk was still dressed warmly. Not in their usual sweater and pants though, Frisk realized with a start. They were wearing fuzzy green pajamas that were just slightly a little too big for them.

Frisk frowned. They didn't remember changing clothes.

With their interest piqued, Frisk moved a little less carefully as they swung their legs over the edge of the bed. Luckily the bed wasn't high, and Frisk was able to ease themselves down onto the ground.

Everything felt alright. Admittedly Frisk was feeling a little sore and shaky on their legs, but it was nowhere near the searing pain they had been feeling.

Frisk looked around again. _I wonder where I am…_

They padded across the floor and over to the door. Grasping the knob, they pushed it open and stumbled into… _a bar_?

"….."

Frisk realized they weren't alone. A soft hissing noise came from their right and, looking over, Frisk saw a monster on fire. No…not on fire. The monster was fire. Fire dressed in an impeccable ensemble. Out of all the monsters Frisk met, this one was probably the best dressed out of them all. It was wearing black pants and vest over a long sleeved white shirt. The monster was also wearing glasses which came a surprise to Frisk because as far as they could see the monster didn't have any eyes.

"….." The hissing noise came again from the fire monster.

Frisk was unsure how to respond. They didn't have their paper and pen. For a second Frisk missed the easy way of speaking to Gaster without actually speaking vocally.

A longer, deeper vibration echoed around the empty bar. Frisk frowned at the fire monster who the sound came from.

Out of its pocket, the fire monster pulled a cellphone and typed in a number. Frisk watched as it brought the phone up slightly closer to its face as the phone dialed. On the first ring whoever was on the other end picked up and said "Hey Grillby, what's up?"

It was Sans' voice. Unintentionally Frisk drew closer to the bar to hear the conversation better.

"…."

"Frisk's awake? Is the doc there? Has she taken another look at Frisk?" Sans shot off several questions in response to Grillby's soft whisper.

"…"

"I knew we shouldn't have left! Hang on and tell Frisk we'll be there soon with the doc. Don't let them do anything stupid." Sans instructed. A click from the phone signaled the end of the call.

 _Now what?_ Frisk thought, peering up at Grillby. He would obviously be the owner of the bar Sans kept talking about. But as to why Frisk was here (and not dead) and what happened after they passed out was starting to bother them. Should they be doing something?

Frisk's worrying thoughts were interrupted by a loud growl. Embarrassed, Frisk looked down at their hungry stomach. When was the last time they ate? Breakfast with Papyrus and Sans had only been that morning, but if Frisk had been passed out for a long time…Frisk didn't know how long it had been since they last ate.

Frisk's stomach growled again and Frisk pulled on the pajama top in embarrassment.

A soft sound made Frisk look up again. Grillby had placed something in front of them—Frisk's mouth began to water as the delicious smell of fries wafted in their direction. The small plate of fries sitting in front of them was hot, but Frisk didn't remember seeing Grillby move to make them.

Frisk looked at Grillby, pointed and themselves and then pointed back at the fries. They were asking the obvious question 'Are these for me?'

"….." Grillby nodded.

Frisk didn't need any more encouragement. They eagerly dug into the fries, which were _delicious_ and _amazing_. Just the right amount of salt, slightly greasy but with a good crunchy outside and a heavenly inside. Now all Frisk needed was—

Grillby set a ketchup bottle next to Frisk's fries and Frisk felt like they would die of happiness. Without hesitating they turned the bottle over and dumped a large amount of ketchup on their fries.

"…" Frisk's mouth was stuffed with fries and most of their attention was still on their food but they could've sworn they heard a small chuckling sound come from the fire monster.

Internally Frisk shrugged and ignored it. The fries demanded all of their attention now. Grillby, his job of feeding Frisk completed, started polishing his drink glasses. Both human and monster were silent as they focused on their tasks. It was a comfortable silence, filled only with the squeaking of the glasses and some small munching sounds.

It was in this calm mood that Sans and Doctor Big Mouth arrived upon. Both were out of breath as if they had run to Grillby's from the Ruins.

Frisk glanced up from their food and gave Sans a little wave.

"Hey there kid, good to see you up and about." Sans' smile was strained but he seemed relieved to see Frisk.

"Grillby!" Big Mouth barked, "Why is the child out of bed?"

"…" Grillby tapped the counter.

"If they were hungry they could have called for you. The entire reason we kept them here instead of moving them was so they wouldn't be damaged further." Big Mouth shook her head and tsked. She moved over to Frisk, who inched back a little and looked at Big Mouth with wide eyes.

"I don't understand how Undyne could have mistaken this poor child from the Ruins for a human. It's a miracle they survived her attack." Big Mouth commented as she poked and prodded at Frisk, checking them for any lasting injuries. She looked up for a moment at Frisk, "Oh, don't worry. Papyrus and Sans filled us in about your unfortunate circumstances. Undyne won't mistake you for a human again. I think she's waiting at their house to apologize to you, after all you managed to save M.K while holding your ground against her!" Big Mouth chuckled, "If nothing else she does respect strength."

Frisk glanced over at Sans who quickly shook his head and raised a finger to his mouth in the universal symbol for _keep quiet_.

 _Monster child my butt_. Frisk turned their gaze back to Big Mouth. They didn't know why Sans and Papyrus were lying for them. And Undyne waiting to apologize to them? Like that would ever happen. But, Frisk was relieved to hear, it sounded like M.K was doing alright.

"Hmmm…" A soft, green glow shivered its way down Big Mouth's tendrils. Any lasting aches Frisk had were suddenly gone, replaced by a comfortable warm feeling that disappeared when Big Mouth withdrew her tendrils away from Frisk.

"Alright, I suppose you're healthy enough now, BUT," Big Mouth looked at Frisk sternly (at least Frisk thought it was a stern look, Big Mouth's mouth was set in the same way Ms. Smith's did when she was giving a lecture), "you need bedrest for another week at the very least. I've done what I can to heal your _body_."

Big Mouth turned towards Sans who said, "Not happening Doc."

Big Mouth sighed and shook her head. "Sans there isn't much I can do but I would feel safer taking a look at their s-"

"I said," Sans growled, "it's not _happening_."

The air in the room crackled and Frisk felt the hairs on the back of their neck stand on end. There was tension between Sans and Big Mouth. Frisk glanced back and forth between Sans and Big Mouth, confused as to what the problem was.

Big Mouth opened her lips to speak- probably to argue with Sans, when Grillby interrupted with a humming sound.

"….."

Big Mouth sniffed loudly ( _where is her nose?_ Frisk was left wondering) and said, "Fine. If you need me, you know where to find me." She patted Frisk on the head in farewell and left the bar.

The tension in the room dissipated with Big Mouth's departure. Sans relaxed and gave Grillby a grateful look. "Thanks for backing me up Grillby."

Grillby shrugged his shoulders and continued wiping down the drink glasses.

Sans approached the bar and sat down next to Frisk. He smiled when he saw what they were eating and said, "Hey Grillby mind if I get some fries too? Put it on my tab."

Grillby snorted with mirth and Frisk wondered if there was a joke they'd missed. But neither Grillby or Sans commented on it further so Frisk just went back to finishing up their own plate of fries.

* * *

"You ready to go back home?" Sans asked Frisk after they had finished eating.

 _Home? Is he talking about the surface?_ Frisk puzzled over Sans' words for a second before realizing- _Oh. He's talking about his home._

Frisk nodded warily. Big Mouth mentioned that Undyne was at his house and they were hesitant to confront her again. Frisk's emotions were jumbled up in confusion. On one hand they wanted to meet Asgore, but on the other Frisk flinched away from the pain caused by their almost death.

 _You've died over and over before. You should be used to this,_ Frisk scolded themselves.

"So? You coming?" Sans was waiting by the door.

Frisk jumped down off the barstool and nearly tripped over the hem of their pants. Suddenly remembering these weren't their clothes, Frisk flapped the long arms at Sans in hope that he would understand.

"Oh yeah, those belonged to Grillby's niece when she was younger. A bit too big for you but they were all we could come up with on short notice with your other clothes being torn apart and all."

Not what Frisk was asking, but it was nice to know where the pajamas came from. They tried turning to Grillby and flapping the sleeves at him.

"…."

"He says you can keep it," Sans translated.

'Thank you.' Frisk signed at Grillby. They weren't sure he would understand but Frisk wanted to communicate their gratitude. To Frisk's surprise and delight, Grillby signed back, 'You're welcome.'

Frisk prepared to leave with Sans and was about to head out of the door when they realized something.

Frisk tugged on Sans' jacket.

"What?"

Frisk pointed down at their bare feet.

Sans sighed, "Right, can't have you getting frostbite after all the work the doc put into healing you."

He thought for a moment and then said, "I guess I'll just have to carry you."

Oh no. No no no no no. Frisk would not be carried like a baby. No thank you. Frisk shook their head frantically.

Sans snorted, "Would you rather walk out there in bare feet?"

Frisk turned back to Grillby, intent on asking him if he had any shoes to spare. Frisk was determined it was going to be that or they weren't going anywhere.

 _Oof!_

Frisk scowled and kicked Sans in the stomach. This was almost- no, this was _more_ insulting than being carried like a baby. Sans had thrown Frisk over his shoulder and was marching outside. Frisk kicked him again and pounded on his back for good measure.

"Keep it up kid and I'll throw you in the river," Sans said.

Frisk thought about it and decided Sans throwing them in the river would negate his attempt to keep their feet from freezing so they gave him one more kick.

Sans huffed but continued walking (not towards the river, Frisk noted smugly).

The skeleton brothers' house wasn't far away. Snowdin was a small town, if Frisk remembered correctly it only took them about ten minutes to walk the entire length of it. But the position they were in was becoming quickly uncomfortable. After a minute Frisk started shifting around, trying to get more comfortable.

"Stop moving," Sans said. Frisk ignored him.

"Ok, we'll switch it up. This is getting too annoying," Sans said. He put Frisk down and Frisk immediately regretted everything. The snow was _freezing_ against their bare feet. Before Frisk could get too uncomfortable though, they were swooped up again by Sans; this time in a princess carry.

It was better than being hauled over his shoulder but still pretty embarrassing. Frisk crossed their arms and looked away, hoping that nobody would see them before they reached Sans' house.

"Oof, hey kid you should lay off the spaghetti and fries. I don't know if I'll be able to carry you the rest of the way home," Sans laughed.

Frisk stuck their tongue out in retaliation which only made Sans laugh again.

The rest of the way back was uneventful. Sans and Frisk both kept quiet after the shift in carrying and nobody else seemed to be milling around the town; Grillby's had been abandoned too. Frisk wondered if all the monsters were sleeping. Had they been passed out for a full day? Or longer? Frisk wanted to ask Sans, but was unsure as how to get their question across nonverbally.

"Here we are." Sans announced. He carefully moved more of Frisk's weight onto one arm while the other turned the doorknob. Sans stepped inside with Frisk still in his arms.

"Papyrus, we're-" Sans started to say but was quickly interrupted by a streak of white and red grabbing Frisk from Sans' arms.

"FRISK!" Papyrus shouted and hugged Frisk tightly. "YOU'RE ALIVE! Well, I mean of course you're alive! Doctor Big Mouth is the best doctor I know. She's the only doctor I know actually but I'm positive she's the best around!"

Frisk grimaced and squirmed in Papyrus' embrace. _Too tight! Too tight!_

"Hey Pap, why don't you let the kid breathe? Don't wanna kill them after all the hard work that was put into keeping them alive." Sans said.

"I would NEVER!" Papyrus looked insulted but loosened his grip on Frisk. Frisk gratefully took a deep breath of air.

"Frisk are you hungry? The last time you ate must have been breakfast yesterday!" Papyrus set Frisk back down on the ground but continued to worry over them. At least he answered Frisk's question about how long they had fallen asleep. It only felt like minutes while they were with Gaster but had been more like hours and hours.

"Don't worry, Grillby gave them some food," Sans wandered further into the house.

Papyrus frowned, "That greasy food? That's not something a growing child should eat! Frisk, allow me to make you some pasta!"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Undyne's voice boomed through the house.

Sans shot Papyrus a glare, "She's still here?"

"Oh, uh, yes Undyne is still here…" Papyrus shuffled his feet, "Was she supposed to leave?"

Sans didn't respond and instead stomped into the living room; Papyrus and Frisk followed after him.

Undyne was standing in the center of the living room, still in full battle armor. Her arms were crossed and she was glaring daggers at the three of them.

"Papyrus, you've been making spaghetti for this thing?" Undyne jabbed her finger at Frisk.

"Yes! Just as you taught me Undyne!" Papyrus said.

"Don't say it so proudly! I didn't give you cooking lessons so you could feed a human!" Undyne shouted.

Frisk sighed as Papyrus and Undyne began another squabble. They were preparing to stand there for a while and listen to the two of them argue back and forth when Sans suddenly cut into the argument.

"How did you know Frisk is the human Papyrus mentioned?" Sans asked Undyne.

Frisk was confused. How could Undyne not know what a human was? Asgore had six human souls at the Barrier just waiting to be used. Undyne was the captain of the royal guard and based off her previous interactions with Frisk they assumed that she assisted in gathering the souls.

"They were walking with you Sans. It was pretty obvious." Undyne's gaze flickered away from Sans'.

 _She's lying._

Sans also realized this and snapped out, "Don't give me that crap Undyne. Frisk could have been any monster kid. But not an instant after you saw them you knew."

"I am captain of the royal guard, Sans!" Undyne said, echoing Frisk's thoughts.

"You became captain only after the last human soul was taken. We both remember how the last captain fell against that human."

"So?"

"And I know for a fact you were never taken out to fight against any of the humans. You weren't alive when the first few came down here and you were just a kid yourself when the last one was here."

Undyne growled and glared at Frisk, "I just knew, ok? When I see you I feel infuriated! Hell if I know why, your face just gives me a bad feeling!"

"That's not nice Undyne! Frisk has a very nice face!" Papyrus protested.

"It's just the way I feel Papyrus. I'm not going to try and explain this to you." Undyne said.

Frisk was staring at their feet as they continued to go back and forth. None of them were paying attention to Frisk, all of their focus was on arguing with Undyne.

 _So she doesn't remember me…at least, not completely_.

Frisk was under no illusions of why Undyne might possibly hate them. They had thought it strange most of the monsters reacted in a positive way towards Frisk. They might not remember Frisk killing them, but Frisk sure as hell remembered. It was uncomfortable having creatures you slaughtered act kindly towards you.

Frisk had wondered briefly if anyone remembered or felt anything from their last run in the Underground. But since most of the monsters didn't react any differently (some were initially aggressive towards Frisk, but they assumed it came from fear of something new and different) so Frisk allowed their guard to drop in regards to that.

But now with Undyne acting like this towards Frisk…they just knew a part of her still held onto things before the RESET happened. They didn't know how, but Frisk was positive they knew why. Undyne saw Frisk as a threat because they once had been-and if Frisk was being honest with themselves, they still were.

 _I don't want to hurt anyone anymore._

Frisk shut their eyes tightly as they thought. They thought about dust on their hands. They thought about hundreds of terrified faces right before the final blow. They thought about the anger that was directed towards them over and over again.

 _But what if I can't stop myself?_

Frisk's breathing grew labored.

 _What if I am bad?_

 _Of course I'm bad look at what I've done._

 _What if I unintentionally harm someone? Undyne said it, my entire existence is a crime. I'm hurting everyone right now by being here._

 _But Papyrus said-_

 _Papyrus doesn't know what he's talking about! He doesn't understand. He'll never understand._

"When you said you knew what they had done-?"

"I know they're tricking everyone! I knew they're lying about who they truly are! That human can't be trusted!"

 _She's right. I can't be trusted._

"Frisk is innocent!"

 _Stop sticking up for me, Papyrus. Undyne is right. She can feel it in her soul._

Tears were burning in Frisk's eyes. Silently they tried to wipe them away, feeling foolish for crying over this. It was the truth and the truth hurt but Frisk should know better than to cry over this truth. They had known it all along, had it repeated to them over and over by other people and monsters who also knew the truth.

Frisk was destructive…vile, wicked, and had a _hideous_ soul that glowed such a beautiful red Frisk felt undeserving of it. Their soul didn't reflect who Frisk truly was.

"But they almost died trying to protect M.K!" Papyrus said. Undyne opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated.

Finally uninterrupted Papyrus went on to boast of Frisk's great act of saving M.K at the risk of their own life. When he looked at Frisk with a friendly smile he was expecting them to be smiling right back at him. But Frisk wasn't smiling. Their lips were shaking and they were crying.

"Frisk?" Papyrus crouched down to check on the child, "Frisk, what's wrong?"

Frisk shook their head and pressed their palms against their eyes in an attempt to stem the tears.


	7. Chapter 7

Frisk was immediately swept up into Papyrus' arms. He hugged them close and gave the meanest glare he could at Undyne (which, honestly, was more of a sad kicked puppy look). "Undyne, you've made them cry!"

Undyne flushed, "So?"

"That's not very nice!"

"Pretty sure almost killing the kid was meaner," Sans muttered loud enough for everyone to hear him.

Undyne struggled for something to say under the disappointed looks of Sans and Papyrus. She took a breath and prepare to say something but was interrupted by Papyrus proclaiming loudly, "Undyne if you can't be nice maybe you should go home."

Undyne's eyes almost bulged out of her head and her brief confused demeanor vanished. "I'm not leaving you guys here alone with that thing!"

"Frisk isn't a thing!" Papyrus said.

"Papyrus-" Undyne started but Papyrus shook his head. To Frisk's surprise, Undyne fell silent although the confusion and rage in her eyes spoke volumes.

"Frisk and I will be going upstairs now. They need more rest," Papyrus started walking towards the stairs with Frisk still in his arms. Sans followed after them.

"I'm not leaving you here alone!" Undyne said.

"I'm not alone! Sans is here and so is Frisk!" Papyrus said.

"The human is what I'm worried about! I'm not leaving!" Undyne insisted.

"Fine! Sleep on the couch then!" Papyrus said over his shoulder. Frisk, looking backwards, saw Sans smack his hand to his face.

"Fine!"

"And help yourself to some spaghetti in the fridge if you get hungry!" Papyrus added.

"Fine!" Undyne whirled around and stomped over to the kitchen where Frisk couldn't see her anymore.

Papyrus opened the door to his room and entered with Sans trailing behind. Papyrus gently placed Frisk on his bed and tried to wipe away their tears with his red gloves. Sans stood by him, his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Nyehe, don't worry Frisk! Undyne can seem mean at first but she's got a good heart underneath that scary exterior," Papyrus said in an attempt to comfort Frisk. It didn't help, but Frisk tried to stop crying if it would only make Papyrus stop looking at them with that worried look in his eyes.

"And I think she's beginning to like you! Saving M.K like that, WOWIE! Boy was she surprised!"

"Good thing she was too stunned to do anything else," Sans said.

Papyrus nodded and lowered his voice, "Speaking of which, does everyone truly believe what you told them?"

"Yeah, I think so," Sans turned to Frisk and said, "What you heard Big Mouth say earlier, about you being a monster kid from the Ruins, me and my brother started that rumor after Undyne stopped the fight when you defended M.K. It was a good thing she was too stunned to argue with us."

 _So why is she keeping the secret now,_ Frisk wondered.

Sans seemed to read their thoughts, "It's interesting Undyne hasn't said anything and let Big Mouth go heal you. She's brash but she isn't stupid. She saw how you didn't fight back and how you almost died for M.K. She probably wants to stick around to observe you further."

Papyrus reached out and gave Frisk one last hug. "Everything will be alright! We'll keep you safe Frisk!"

Frisk wanted so badly to hug Papyrus back. They really, really did. But they knew they were already too attached to the two skeletons. Frisk clenched their arms by their sides, stiff and unmoving. Papyrus moved away after a moment.

"Try to get some sleep, nyehehe! I'll be back in a little bit!" Papyrus smiled and left the room with Sans. Frisk could hear them start whispering as the door was shut.

Frisk sat alone in the darkness. Papyrus and Sans were so kind, a far cry from what they had been before. Everyone in Snowdin was kind even after just knowing Frisk for such a short time. While there was a small part of Frisk that was desperate to stay, Frisk could only think- _I'll only do more damage if I stay here. I have to leave._

They couldn't live here peacefully, not after everything. Undyne had proved that and enforced the reason why Frisk had to leave and move forward with their quest.

Frisk laid down, not sleeping but staying wide awake. They would wait until everyone fell asleep, and then they would leave to meet Asgore.

* * *

Luckily for Frisk, Papyrus was a deep sleeper. _One could even say he sleeps like the dead_. Frisk put a hand over their mouth to stop a chuckle. Sans was a bad influence on their humor.

Frisk was wishing they still had their old clothes. They were still wearing the pajamas and Frisk wouldn't have the chance to get new clothes until…well, probably never.

They thought about taking some of Sans or Papyrus' clothes but Frisk already felt awful after taking a pair of Papyrus' old boots. Their old clothes and sneakers were long gone by now. Frisk would just have to deal with it.

Their backpack with all their stuff was pretty beat up. Frisk hadn't noticed losing their backpack during the fight; since both straps were broken (probably by Undyne's spears) the backpack must have fallen off into the snow before Undyne stabbed Frisk in the back. There were some more spear tears on the sides of the backpack but Frisk would just have to hope nothing would fall out.

When it sounded like everyone was sound asleep Frisk slipped out of bed, grabbed the boots, and quietly opened Papyrus' bedroom door. They looked around furtively and listened intently. It was dark inside the house, but luckily the outside was still as bright as it had been earlier and the light shining through the window's curtains was enough for Frisk to make out the stairs.

 _You never realize how much a house creaks until you're trying to be sneaky_ , Frisk winced as yet another creak on the stairs shouted out. They were trying to not wake anyone up but the house seemed determined to alert everyone to exactly where Frisk was.

Undyne was sleeping on the couch, her body covered underneath a large blanket. Frisk held their breath as they tip toed past her. Their heartbeat was so loud they were sure Undyne was going to hear it. She appeared to move for a second, and Frisk froze with one foot still in the air. Undyne settled down again and Frisk quickly skittered past her. When they reached the front door they sighed with relief.

Frisk put on Papyrus' boots. As they expected, the boots were way too big for Frisk. But there was nothing else better to use. Frisk could take some slippers but they wouldn't hold up as well as the boots would during the journey.

Frisk opened the door and moved clumsily outside. _I hope I don't have to outrun anything, I'm walking like a penguin._ Although knowing Frisk's luck they probably would.

Frisk gently closed the door behind them and began waddling in the direction of Waterfall. It wasn't too far but the deep snow, Papyrus' big boots, and the now awkward backpack were slowing Frisk down.

 _I hope I get there before everyone wakes up_ , Frisk thought idly.

They continued stomping through the snow. It was taking a lot of energy and Frisk was getting really tired really fast. They probably needed more rest from all the excitement but Frisk knew they couldn't stop. They needed to keep going before Sans, Papyrus, and Undyne realized they were gone.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Too late.

Frisk turned around to see Undyne standing there in her full armor, hands on her hips. Her look of anger at Frisk was as consistent as always.

"Well?"

At least she wasn't attacking them yet.

Frisk weighed their options. They could continue on and ignore Undyne, which would most likely end with them getting another spear in the back, or they could go back to the house and deal with Papyrus and Sans finding out they left in the middle of the night.

 _Spear or disappointment, spear…or disappointment…hmmmm._

"Hey are you listening to me?"

Maybe there was an in-between path Frisk could take. They might be able to use Undyne for what they were hoping Papyrus would do.

Frisk placed their backpack down in the snow and dug out their pencil and beat up notepad. This was Toriel's notebook, although she had never written in it. Frisk remembered seeing another one similar in her room filled with bad puns. It seemed like forever ago when Toriel was serving them pie. Frisk felt the familiar pang in their chest when thinking about their time with Toriel.

 _I guess I'm going to have to get used to that feeling when I think about Papyrus and Sans too_ , Frisk thought sadly.

On their notebook they wrote, 'I'm going to see Asgore,' and showed it to Undyne. Her eyes scanned over it quickly and her face hardened.

"To kill him?" Undyne asked suspiciously.

Frisk shook their head.

"Then why?"

Frisk wrote, 'I want help-' and then paused. They scratched that out and wrote on a separate page so Undyne wouldn't see what they wrote originally. 'I want to talk to him.'

"Why the hell would you want to do that?" Undyne didn't seem angry anymore. She was puzzled.

Frisk tried to think of an answer that was honest but didn't reveal too much to Undyne. They struggled over it, thinking of numerous different answers before writing out, 'Others get hurt around me. I don't want that to happen anymore. Going to see Asgore is the only way.'

Undyne was quiet for a long time after reading that.

"I still don't fully understand what you mean," Undyne finally said. Frisk sighed and prepared to write out more, but Undyne continued on, "But if you're determined to see Asgore I'd be more than happy to take you to him. _But_ _only as my prisoner_ ," Undyne said the last part viciously.

Well Frisk wasn't going to refuse such a _kind_ offer so they nodded, packed up their stuff, and waddled over to Undyne expectedly.

From the look on her face it seems she wasn't prepared for Frisk to say yes. Undyne stared at them open mouthed before her face split into a wide grin.

"EXCELLENT! COME HUMAN LET-" Frisk shushed her and Undyne scowled but quieted down when Frisk pointed back towards sleepy Snowdin.

"Fine, let's get going," Undyne said, quieter.

* * *

Out of all the places in the Underground, Waterfall was the place Frisk considered the most beautiful. When Frisk looked up at the ceiling, the small glittering crystals looked like stars. Water was a constant background noise, whether it was dripping down from the ceiling or rushing around in small rivers. The ground switched between hard dirt floors to brightly glowing blue grass. It was probably the most peaceful place in the Underground.

Not that Frisk got to enjoy it the first time around, nor were they likely to get the chance to admire it with Undyne constantly barking at them to hurry up.

 _I can only walk so fast in these boots!_ Frisk scowled when Undyne shouted at them after Frisk tripped over their feet again. Between Frisk's clumsiness and Undyne's insistence on speed they weren't getting anywhere.

In front of them was a small waterfall that spilled over the path. Rocks were constantly dropping down and falling in front of them; Frisk remembered getting hit with them over and over as they tried to cross.

Undyne apparently had no problem crossing. In a few strides she went across and was making it clear she was impatiently waiting for Frisk to join her.

Frisk tentatively stepped into the water and tried to keep an eye on the rocks. Unfortunately with how fast everything was moving, and how slow Frisk was going, they were promptly bowled over by a rock. Frisk fell into the water and came up spluttering; they held their bag aloft so it wouldn't get wet. _Ugghhhhh_ , Frisk's clothes were wet and water was quickly seeping into the boots. Frisk stood up and tried to make a run for it but didn't get far until another rock swept them off their feet.

It happened two more times, Frisk was soaking wet, and they still weren't even halfway across. Frisk was about to take another go at it when they heard an annoyed huff. Splashing noises came from in front of them and suddenly they were being hoisted up. Frisk peered up, blinking water out of their eyes. Undyne glowered at them. "You're so pathetic," Undyne said as she put Frisk under one of her arms and carried them across the water.

Frisk's brief thought of _that was nice_ quickly went away when Undyne dropped them to the floor. _Ok not so nice_ , Frisk rubbed at their stinging back. _That's gonna leave a bruise._

"Alright let's keep moving," Undyne said. Frisk got up, but shivered when the water in their boots sloshed around. Frisk waved at Undyne and held up one finger to ask for a minute. They weren't sure if Undyne would wait, but she did. Undyne watched as Frisk yanked off Papyrus' boots and dumped out the water on the ground.

The boots were still damp and squishy but it was better than walking around with a lake in them. Frisk and Undyne continued on, with Frisk squeezing out the water from their clothes as they walked. Waterfall wasn't as cold as Snowdin was, but it was still a little chilly. Any warmth Frisk had felt from the pajamas was gone now, and they were shivering a little. Undyne noticed, but decided to ignore it.

The next cavern in Waterfall consisted of the flower bridge puzzle. Frisk waved to get Undyne's attention and then showed her the question they wrote down.

'Why are there so many puzzles here?'

"Papyrus handles the puzzles," Undyne answered shortly. That partly answered Frisk's question, but not all of it.

'Did Papyrus make these puzzles?'

"No, Papyrus only does the puzzles in Snowdin."

'Then who made these?'

"I don't know! They've been here as long as I can remember! They're a pain in the ass."

'Why don't you take them out?'

"Because they slow down annoying humans like you!" Undyne said.

 _Ok then_ , Frisk nodded in understanding. They assumed Undyne wouldn't help with the puzzle so Frisk started over to the flowers. They looked around and frowned. _I don't remember how I did this the first time_. Oh well, trial and error. Frisk grabbed one of the flowers and put it on top of their head.

"What are you doing?" Undyne asked.

Frisk sighed, put down the flower, and got out their writing tools again. 'I'm solving the puzzle?'

"Why did you put it on your head? You look stupid," Undyne said.

'I need to carry my backpack.' The backpack, despite Frisk's best efforts, was a little wet from their run in with the waterfall. They were hesitant to put it down and get it dirtier than it already was (truly a hopeless cause but Frisk was going to be stubborn about this).

"I'll hold it for you-no wait, we don't have to do this stupid puzzle anyways!" Undyne grabbed Frisk again.

 _I'm getting really tired of getting picked up like a sack_ , Frisk thought grumpily.

"Why waste time?" Undyne said as she stepped though the water. It was deep, but Undyne was tall and the distance from one bank to the other was short. In no time they arrived at the entrance to the next cavern. "See? Easy!" Undyne smirked and dropped Frisk again; Frisk was ready this time and landed on their feet.

Undyne looked pretty proud so Frisk, holding their backpack between their arms, clapped their hands for her. The smile on Undyne's face vanished and she rolled her eyes. "No need for sarcasm."

That wasn't- ok, maybe it was a little sarcastic, but Frisk did want to thank Undyne for saving them from solving the puzzle. Frisk attempted to sign 'Thank you' but Undyne just looked confused.

"What are you doing with your hands?"

Frisk sighed, wondering if it was worth it to explain sign language to Undyne.

"Were you doing something rude?" Undyne accused them. She was looking pretty angry and demanded again Frisk tell her what the hand gesture meant.

This was going to be a long conversation.

And it was. But not in the way Frisk expected. Frisk explained the basics of sign language and showed Undyne a few basic hand signs. To their astonishment Undyne didn't immediately brush it off, but instead became interested in signing. As they walked Undyne insisted on learning the signs Frisk knew.

"It's like a secret code!" Undyne said excitedly, "A human secret code!"

Frisk attempted to explain that it was _not_ a secret code for humans but Undyne was ignoring this. She seemed delighted to learn it, and in her excitement Undyne let something slip.

"Now I know two secret human codes!" Undyne said. "Sign language and anime language!"

Frisk stopped in their tracks and let out a loud laugh. It startled both of them, but Frisk couldn't help it. They hadn't known what anime was though until they were sent to the orphanage. Some of the older kids talked about it and would watch it on the communal TV.

"Kisushitai!" Undyne shouted, "See? That's a war cry! It's what the heroine shouts when she's about to take control of someone! Hey, wh-why are you laughing?"

Frisk laughed harder, they didn't know any Japanese but they did know that one. That was from the awful anime everyone at the orphanage hated, Mew Mew Kissy Cutie. Frisk remembered all the kids making fun of it and shouting the infamous 'Kisushitaiiiiiiii!' at each other after watching the first episode. It meant 'I want to kiss you' but Frisk was pretty sure Undyne didn't realize that.

When Frisk managed to control their laughter they asked, 'Who told you that was a battle cry?'

"Alphys did! She's an expert on anime!" Undyne said proudly, "She taught me everything and even lets me come over to watch the episodes sometimes!"

Frisk snorted and wiped away the tears that came from laughter. The name Alphys sounded familiar but Frisk didn't want to bother trying to chase the memory.

 _Maybe I should tell Undyne what it means…nahhhhh._

 _Hmmm, I wonder what happened to it,_ Frisk thought back, trying to remember what the older kids had done with the Mew Mew Kissy Cutie anime. _Didn't they get scolded for…?_ Frisk vaguely remembered two kids who thought it would be funny to throw the DVD set down into the sewer ("Trash belongs in the trash!" They shouted as they did it). Mew Mew Kissy Cutie was one of the few DVD sets they owned. Ms. Smith bought a cheap box of random things that included, besides the DVD's, four socks (none of them matched), a bunch of un-broken toys (soon broken), some knick-knacks (also soon broken), and a couple of old striped t-shirts.

Boy, Ms. Smith was sure mad when she found out. Frisk couldn't remember how she punished them but everyone taunted those two kids for weeks. Frisk remembered it as a peaceful time because for a little while they were not on the bullying radar.

"Oh good, we've reached the echo flowers," Undyne said offhandedly; Frisk looked around.

They were in the area with those beautiful glowing blue flowers. Frisk felt small goosebumps of delight shiver over them when they looked up. The glittering crystals sat in the obsidian ceiling, some buried deep within the rock so only small pieces of light shone through, while others were protruding so far out that Frisk felt they could reach up and grab one of the dazzling stars.

Frisk was so busy looking at the ceiling they weren't watching where they were going and bumped into one of the echo flowers.

" _A long time ago, monsters would whisper their wishes to the stars in the sky,"_ A small voice called out from the flower. Frisk took a step back. They pointed at the flower excitedly and looked back at Undyne, the obvious question written all over their face.

"You've never seen an echo flower before?"

Technically, Frisk had. But…there was no other way to put it, Frisk thought they were going crazy (crazier?) the first time they encountered echo flowers. The flowers let out crying noises and whispered in hushed voices when Frisk passed them. They were so upset they just ran through the passages with echo flowers.

To keep things simple Frisk just shook their head at Undyne's question.

"Well they're…" Undyne started to say, but stopped. She twitched and her sneer came back onto her face. "Why am I bothering telling you this? It doesn't matter, let's keep moving."

For the next hour of walking, both Frisk and Undyne were silent. Frisk was pondering Undyne's sudden change in behavior. Not her rude abruptness- no, Frisk was used to that- but rather her fleeting moments of friendliness. It was a side to Undyne Frisk had never seen before; it was like Undyne dropped her guard for a little while.

Eventually Frisk got tired and needed to stop and rest for a bit. Undyne walked fast, and with her long legs and appropriate fitting boots Frisk was struggling to keep up with her speed. Frisk was sure Undyne would refuse, but maybe something in their exhausted demeanor made Undyne agree.

The area they stopped in was another pretty place in Waterfall. Frisk sat on the edge of a bank and dipped their fingers into the bright blue water that ran in numerous rivers around them. The ground was soft and grassy, albeit a little soggy. Feeling bored, Frisk popped a few of the bubbles emerging from the water. The bubbles glowed just as brightly as the water did and lit up the cavernous area with a soft light.

 _Ring ring! Ring ring!_

Frisk looked over at Undyne who was grabbing a phone from a pocket in her armor. Undyne grimaced when she saw who was calling, but still answered the call anyways.

"Papyrus? Shouldn't you still be asleep?" Undyne said in a false casual tone. Frisk didn't hear the exact words but they could hear Papyrus' panicked shouting on the other end.

"The human? Uhhhh, what do you mean they're gone?" Undyne was a terrible actor. "Of course I don't know where they are! Weren't you keeping an eye on them?"

Papyrus' voice lowered and Undyne bit her lip, "I left because…uhhhhh…I had a Captain of the Royal Guard problem that I was, uh, needed for."

 _Is he worried about me?_ Frisk wondered, but it was a stupid question to ask themselves. Of course Papyrus- and even maybe Sans- would be worried about Frisk. _That's not something I ever thought would happen_.

 _They saved my life and now I'm running straight towards my death_. Frisk felt a stab of guilt.

"Look, you said you were going to take care of the human, they probably decided to wander around Snowdin and murder some innocent monsters or something," Undyne said harshly. Papyrus' voice rose again on the phone. "No I didn't _take_ them. Papyrus this is ridiculous! Go find the stupid human before I come back and kick their butt again!" Undyne hung up. Frisk raised an eyebrow.

"Oh shut up," Undyne mumbled, "Are you done resting yet?"

Frisk was, in fact, not done resting, but they didn't want to push it, so they got up and continued forward.


	8. Chapter 8

_Upside to traveling with Undyne: No monsters try to attack me._

 _Downside to traveling with Undyne: Monsters try to…uh, play with her? Whatever it is, they're slowing us down._

Despite their thoughts Frisk watched, very amused, as a monster that introduced himself as Aaron tried to get Undyne into a flexing contest. She kept pushed him away, insisting she had no time. Aaron was obviously didn't care and kept protesting, flexing his muscles harder and harder to try and get Undyne interested.

Aaron hadn't come alone either, a monster called Woshua was sitting next to Frisk. Woshua was definitely one of the stranger monsters Frisk had seen. It looked something like a turtle but instead of a shell on its back there was a tank filled with water and a small rubber ducky inside. While Aaron was distracted with Undyne, Woshua was weirdly interested in Frisk. It kept glancing over and them and would make a move as if to do something, think better of it, and move away again. It was starting to make Frisk uncomfortable.

"I've been lifting since our last competition! I'm sure to beat you this time!" Aaron boasted.

Undyne's eye twitched.

"Unless you're…. _scared_ of losing?" Aaron whinnied which Frisk assumed was a taunting laugh.

"Oh that is it!" Undyne shouted. She grabbed Aaron and gave him a noogie. "Do I look like I'm scared of losing to you?"

 _How does this keep happening?_ Frisk couldn't help but wonder as they watched the friendly scene in front of them.

They hadn't gotten much farther into Waterfall after Papyrus called. Undyne was pushing to go faster, but apparently this area of Waterfall was well populated by monsters that seemed to _adore_ Undyne; Frisk didn't fully understand why. They were constantly being stopped and spoken to.

First they were stopped by a monster that looked like an onion, who pestered Undyne and Frisk about what stars were. Frisk expected Undyne to get mad and start shouting at the little guy, or at the very least ignore it, but instead she kneeled down and spoke softly. Frisk couldn't hear so they approached slowly. The onion asked, in response to whatever Undyne said, "Are you a star?"

"No Loren, I'm not a star. But you'll see a real one someday." Undyne promised.

"Are they a star?" Loren blinked at Frisk.

"No."

Loren shifted and their little black eyes blinked several times. They looked confused, and then said, "Hello. Do you know what a star is?"

Undyne smiled sadly, "No, but I've been told if you look up you can see something that looks like stars."

Loren looked up and gasped. Their eyes widened and Frisk could see the crystals' glimmers reflecting in their eyes. Loren tottered away from them, still looking skyward.

Frisk gave Undyne a questioning glance.

"If Loren comes back and asks about stars again let me handle it," Undyne said roughly.

Frisk didn't prod further.

The next encounter was of a much more pleasant nature and…very…very… _very_ annoying.

"Hi! Hello! Hey there Undyne!"

Frisk did not like Onionsan. Similar to Loren she had a torso that looked like an onion, but the rest of her was yellow tentacles. That she used…to _poke_ …at Frisk.

"Who is this? What's your name? You're rather small, I think you'd fit better in this river than I would now!" Onionsan said cheerfully as she prodded at Frisk.

"Is there something wrong with the river?" Undyne asked.

"It's getting shallower," Onionsan blew up her cheeks in a pouty face, "I have to sit down now! And it's so boring because everyone moved to the city! And apparently there's no room for me now but there was room for ~Suzy~!" Onionsan waved her tentacles around.

"But," Onionsan brightened up, "you'll fix everything right Undyne? Tell me more about that place- the ocean- Asgore told you about! I'll get to live there, right? Lots of space for me and my friends!"

Undyne's smile was forced as Onionsan continued to chatter as they walked through the room. Frisk didn't bother playing friendly, Onionsan was still poking them in the back with one of her tentacles and if she didn't stop Frisk was going to go against their no hurting rule and _smack that stupid tentacle so hard-_!

"Oh no, we've reached the end of the hallway," Onionsan said sadly. Frisk sighed in relief.

"I'll see you later," Undyne held up one of her hands and Onionsan lightly tapped it with one of her tentacles.

"Thanks for stopping by! Don't be a stranger~! Buh-bye!" Onionsan waved them off. To be polite Frisk waited until they were out of sight to frown and wrinkle their nose and Undyne.

"Don't do that, she's nice." Undyne aimed a half-hearted kick at Frisk's legs. Frisk skittered ahead and made the face again. Undyne snorted and let a small grin fall onto her face, "She is a little talkative though."

A couple rooms over Frisk heard the soft sounds of the piano being played and a small voice singing along (although not very well) to the tune. _If I remember correctly there was a piano with a weird message on it somewhere around here…I never did figure that out._

Undyne was torn for a second, looking as if she wanted to interrupt the singer; her fingers tapped the rhythm against her armor. But when she glanced back to Frisk, Undyne shook her head and continued forward, ignoring the music. Undyne might have not been aware of it, but she continued humming the tune. Her voice was low and gravelly but it was pleasant to listen to. Frisk was careful not to call attention to it, hoping Undyne would continue. It was only Aaron's interruption that stopped her.

"Call it! Say I win!" Undyne said. Frisk snorted, Aaron looked like he would rather die than admit it.

"Scrub a dub-dubs?" Woshua said. Frisk gazed over at them at cocked their head questioningly.

"Wosh u hand? Wosh u leg?" Woshua asked. It toddled closer to Frisk and prodded at their muddy boots and dirty hands. Despite Frisk's best attempts, they were still struggling to walk in Papyrus' boots and constantly falling over the rougher terrain of Waterfall.

 _Sure, why not._ Frisk nodded their head and Woshua's face lit up with a happy smile. Frisk laid out and held up their hands for Woshua to clean.

"I will neeeeEEVER SURRENDER!" Aaron struggled and managed to break out of Undyne's grasp. He backed off and flexed his muscles for dramatic effect, "I'll beat you next time!"

"YOU CAN TRY!" Undyne shouted as Aaron sped off into the direction they had just come from. The grin on her face was one of absolute glee and secretly terrified Frisk.

When Undyne turned around Frisk could tell she had forgotten about them for a second. She blinked in surprise and the grin fell from her face. Frisk wanted to get up and move back but Woshua was still invested in giving them a good cleaning. It finished with their hands and boots and was polishing at Frisk's face. Woshua's cleaning process was tough, and a little painful but Frisk felt strangely better as the little monster fussed over them.

"We need to get you different clothes, there's no way you'll make it to New Home in those." Undyne said suddenly.

"Clean u clothes?" Woshua said while it was squishing Frisk's face between its paws.

"I think those are past cleaning Woshua." Undyne commented. Frisk regretfully agreed with her.

Woshua stopped cleaning and stood back, taking a good look at Frisk. It nodded and said, "Fresh!" Frisk gave Woshua a pat on the head as thanks.

"Thank you!" Woshua said before padding off in the direction Aaron ran away.

Frisk stood up and nervously fiddled with their clothing as Undyne continued staring at them with a confused look. Frisk pointed ahead, asking if they should start moving. Undyne blinked and shook her head. "Uh, yeah. Let's go. Gerson's just up ahead, we can see if he has anything."

* * *

 _Oh, so Gerson is his name_ , was Frisk's first thought upon seeing the ancient tortoise. _I didn't know this was his shop._

"Wa ha ha! Undyne what can I do for you?" Gerson laughed and slammed his palm down on the counter.

Undyne said something in response but Frisk was no longer paying attention. Their entire focus was on Gerson and the memories brought up by his appearance.

 _I think…yeah- I was running through this area when I met him. But he wasn't in here, he was out there._

 _Waiting for me._

 _Gerson was the only monster who didn't run away from Frisk or attack them. He was sitting patiently outside, reading an old book. Frisk's quick footsteps slowed to a stop and Gerson glanced up. When he saw Frisk a dark look passed over his face._

" _So you came here. What a treat," Gerson said, closing his book. Frisk immediately raised their knife and held it shakily in front of them._

 _Gerson laughed creakily, "Wa ha ha! Try it kiddo! I've lived too long to be afraid of something like you."_

 _Frisk glanced back and quickly returned their gaze to Gerson. There was no way around him. Slowly they stepped closer, but kept to the far side of the wall away from Gerson. His eyes followed Frisk as they moved._

" _So you going to attack me? Try to steal from the store here?"_

 _Frisk had no such intentions. They were fine. They were fine. They just had a little farther to go and then they could leave this place. They were fine._

" _Mercy? Such a surprise. Why now? Why me?" Gerson asked quietly. Frisk froze, preparing for an attack. Their heavy breathing was the only sound in the corridor._

" _Why not the others? Why would you leave an old timer like me alone and take their lives instead?" Gerson's voice got louder and Frisk jabbed the knife in his direction in an attempt to scare the monster._

 _Gerson gave Frisk a disgusted look, "Maybe we should have all just died fighting the humans. Our death sentence was written long ago, we were fools to believe imprisonment would keep our kind safe. Humans will always come after us."_

 _Frisk took a tentative step away, their gaze locked onto Gerson's. His one yellow eye stared into them._

 _Frisk took another step._

 _And then another._

 _Step after step took them down the corridor, but Gerson's gaze never wavered. It felt like forever as Frisk moved away from the monster. They almost cried when they reached the end and prepared to flee from the hall._

" _Another will strike you down," Gerson's voice stopped them, "someone who'll never give up trying to do the right thing, no matter what."_

 _Frisk fled._

"You alright there kid?" Frisk jolted when Gerson waved a claw in front of their face. They had been spacing out and staring at him.

"They're fine. We've just been doing a lot of walking," Undyne said.

"You shouldn't push children too hard, they need their rest," Gerson scolded. Undyne's cheeks turned a darker shade of blue.

"I was fine as a kid! I could walk through Waterfall and double back with no problem!" Undyne protested.

"Wa ha ha ha! I think you're forgetting the hours you would spend here badgering me!" Gerson said.

Undyne shot him a sour look, "Enough! Do you have the stuff or not?"

"I do but I don't give discounts," Gerson held up his hand smugly waiting for payment.

Undyne grumbled and asked Frisk, "You got any money?" Frisk nodded. Undyne waited and when Frisk didn't make a move she said, "Are you going to hand it over?" Frisk shook their head and Undyne rolled her eyes, "Why not?"

'Need to save it', Frisk wrote for her.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Undyne slapped a hand to her face in frustration. "You need this stuff! Pay up!" Frisk stuck out their jaw defiantly. They underlined what they had written and stabbed at the page with their pencil. This was not something they were willing to let Undyne have her way. They were holding onto that money not matter what.

Gerson made a clicking noise on his counter with his claws. The minutes dragged on as Undyne and Frisk stared at each other, gauging who would give in first.

"FINE!" Undyne threw her hands up into the air. Grumbling loudly, she grabbed a small pouch of coins from inside her armor and threw them down onto the counter. A few of the little golden spheres fell out and started to roll away. Undyne cursed and grabbed at them haphazardly but a few still escaped onto the floor. Frisk bent over, picked them up and placed them back onto the counter.

"Than-" Undyne stopped and took the coins back. She gave Frisk another one of those weird looks.

"So you some clothes that fit the kiddo there? I don't have much in the clothing area but I might have something that'll work." Gerson sized Frisk up and nodded.

"And a pair of shoes," Undyne added, "they can't keep stumbling around or else we'll never get to New Home."

"Dunno if I have any shoes," Gerson mumbled and started rummaging around the numerous trunks and boxes he had laying around the shop.

Eventually Gerson brought out the _ugliest_ ensemble Frisk had ever laid eyes on; a bright green shirt with puce stripes racing across it and, of all things, a bright pink tutu with pink leggings attached to it. And he did have one pair of shoes- ballet slippers to match the tutu. Frisk looked at Undyne and shook their head when Gerson laid out the clothes.

"You wanna keep tripping around in that get up?" Undyne asked harshly. Frisk nodded, anything to avoid wearing _that_. "Well you don't have a choice then!" Undyne grabbed the clothes and shoved them at Frisk, "Put them on!" Frisk scowled but did as she said. Gerson escorted them to the back where Frisk could change in privacy.

"Where do you even find these things?" Undyne asked Gerson, eyeing the ballet slippers still sitting on the counter.

"Oh, here and there." Gerson said, "Occasionally these things come into my possession."

"I haven't seen anything like them before. Did you get them from the garbage dump?"

"No, I think they were left behind by someone."

Frisk changed clothes as Gerson and Undyne continued to chat. Frisk slipped out of Papyrus' shoes and placed them to the side. They weren't pleased with the tutu and shirt, but they fit a lot better and weren't damp like the pajamas. Frisk stepped out and pointed questioningly at Papyrus' boots.

"Ugh, there's no point in taking those along with us. We'll just toss them in the garbage dump," Undyne said.

"I'll take them! They're still pretty clean and you never know when you'll need a good pair of boots!" Gerson took the shoes from Frisk and gave them the ballet slippers in replacement. Frisk slipped on the shoes- thankful to find they didn't have the long ribbons like the ballet slippers in pictures; instead there was just a small elastic band to keep the shoes from falling off their feet.

Frisk stood up and was surprised to find they were a perfect fit. They tried standing on their tiptoes like an actual ballerina but Frisk only wobbled and squished their toes against the rocky floor. _These feel much less sturdy than the boots_. _It's like I'm wearing thick socks with a thin sole on the bottom._

Still, Frisk would be able to move faster in them than the boots. They kept the slippers on and walked over to Undyne. For fun, Frisk swished around to show the full effect of the fluffy tutu and ballet slippers.

"Very pretty!" Gerson applauded. Frisk flushed and stopped, suddenly feeling embarrassed by the childish display.

"It's ugly," Undyne said harshly, then she added "but you don't look half bad in it."

 _Huh, that's nice of her_. Frisk gave Undyne a small smile and surprisingly Undyne smiled back. Frisk picked up their backpack and held it cradled in their arms. Undyne's smile faded and she tapped a finger to her lips.

"Alrighty, with the clothes and shoes the total will be-" Gerson started picking up the coins but Undyne interrupted, "And a new bag."

 _What?_

Gerson shrugged and said, "I've got some old satchels I used for rock collecting. You can have one of those."

"We don't need your hand me d-ok, fine, whatever just add it." Undyne scowled and took the bag from Gerson and handed it to Frisk.

Frisk ran their hand over the soft cloth material. It was an old bag obviously been built to last. Despite its age the bag held up well when Frisk transferred their things into it. It was a little smaller than the backpack but Frisk didn't mind. Slinging it over their shoulder and having their hands free was a welcome change.

'Thank you' Frisk signed at Undyne and Gerson.

"You're welcome," they answered in unison. Gerson chuckled and Undyne snorted. "Alright so how much do we owe you now?" She asked.

Gerson and Undyne worked out the price, and in a few minutes Gerson was waving goodbye to them as they started walking again.

* * *

"I'm so glad they built this walkway," Undyne commented after a while. They were going over the bridges that hung over the garbage dump. "They only built this recently you know. Before you had to muck through the dump to get through."

Frisk remembered having to do both. Undyne chased them in a murderous rage across the bridges and only by falling into the garbage dump were they able to escape her. It had not been pleasant. First, running from magical spears emerging from the ground, and _then_ falling onto a bed of golden flowers whose potent smell could not overcome the disgusting sweet scent of garbage. _Ugh_ , Frisk wrinkled their nose at the memory.

How did they fall down again? …Oh, right! Undyne struck out with her spears and the slightly soggy wood cracked and split the path. Undyne was on the right side and Frisk had the misfortune of being on the side that fell.

 _Good thing that won't happen again_ , Frisk thought. A loud creaking noise, probably the wood settling, came from behind them.

"What the hell! What was that! TAKE THIS!" Undyne suddenly shouted. The bridge jerked beneath them as Undyne turned around and flung three spears at the empty shadows.

 _Not again!_ Frisk winced as the bridge shook and rattled loudly. They hit the ground, holding onto a piece of wood tightly in case the bridge would fall again. Frisk held their breath as the bridge shook a little bit more and then settled.

Frisk was about to give Undyne the worst nonverbal scolding of her life for putting them in danger like that when a high pitched voice giggled from the shadows, "Oops! Guess I wasn't being very sneaky!"

Frisk's eyes widened and they clutched the wood beneath them harder. It couldn't be-

"So sorry for scaring you!" Out of the darkness a little golden flower slithered forward on its roots. "Usually I'm a bit better than that! This crappy wood, it's unsafe and bad for sneak attacks!"

"Who are you?" Undyne asked.

Flowey cocked his head to the side, his bright sunny smile still in place. "Have we not met this time around? That's too bad, I always enjoyed seeing the fear in your eyes. But then again, seeing your brash confidence melt into fear is just as enjoyable!"

"What?" Undyne hissed, "You dare speak that way to the-"

"Captain of the Royal Guard, blah blah blah. You always throw that title around like it means something." Flowey said, "Like you can use it to protect your friends. But I'll tell you what," Flowey's smile became more demonic, "you can never protect them. Everytime you die, and then they die. Sometimes they die first! Those runs were always more amusing because of how angry you would get and-"

Flowey's next words were drowned out by Undyne's roar of fury. She summoned her spears and threw a volley of them at Flowey. Flowey laughed and easily dodged the spears. "You're so predictable!" He said.

"PREDICT THIS!" Undyne shouted and spears came flying up from underneath Flowey.

Within a second he moved away and was in front of Frisk. Frisk flung themselves backwards. Their hands scraped against the wood and Frisk felt small splinters dig themselves into their hands.

"But I'm not here for Undyne, as much fun as she can be. I actually wanted to speak with _you_." Flowey said. Frisk was shaking as Flowey moved closer to them. "You're different. You can remember things, can't you?" Frisk shook their head frantically.

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Frisk gasped as large vines shot out from underneath them and grabbed a hold of Frisk's legs. "I've been watching you! I thought the last RESET was just an accident, but it was _you_ wasn't it?" The vines gripped Frisk's legs tighter and they struggled to get away.

A bright streak of blue cut across their vision and Flowey was forced back by Undyne's attack. The vines loosened with Flowey's distraction, but Frisk was only able to squirm out a little before they clamped back down.

"Leave Frisk alone!" Undyne, spear in hand, began swiping at Flowey. Flowey frowned and quickly shifted backwards but his facial expression grew more irritated by the second. "Why won't you stay still!" Undyne snapped. Frisk didn't understand her confusion until they felt Undyne's magic wash over them. It wasn't aimed at Frisk, but they could still feel the slight pressure on their soul. The same magic that held them in place the other times they had fought Undyne.

"Why isn't it working?" Undyne took another swing at Flowey. Frisk heard the small sliver of panic in her voice. She didn't understand why her magic wasn't working on Flowey.

"You're ruining our conversation!" Flowey said angrily. More vines erupted from underneath the bridge and shot towards Undyne from behind.

"Watch out!" Someone screamed. Frisk's hand flew to their throat as they realized it was their own voice. Hoarse from disuse but still loud enough for Undyne to stop in surprise and whirl around.

Too late. Frisk had called out too late.

Undyne was hit with full force by the vines. She screamed and tried to shield herself but for a moment Frisk couldn't see her beneath the writhing vines. Undyne's scream cut off and Frisk's heart stopped.

The vines slowly slid away to reveal Undyne, and from what Frisk could see she was badly injured and unconscious. She fell to the ground and in disgust, Flowey used one of his vines to flick her away from him. Undyne slid a little ways and ended up behind Frisk.

Frisk breathed harder and started desperately tearing at the vines trapping them. Their hands were shaking so badly Frisk was struggling to get a good grip on the vines.

"Ugh, she's always so dramatic. Has to be the hero. Don't you hate types like those?" Flowey asked Frisk calmly, as if nothing had happened. Frisk ignored him and continued to try and escape. Flowey sighed sadly and said, "I just wanted to have a nice talk. Pal to pal, but you guys are making things so _difficult_!" Flowey's face blackened with his evil mood. However in the next second he smoothed it out and put on the fake friendly smile again.

"But now we're talking! Hooray!" Flowey said. "And I realllllly want to ask you how you got the power to RESET."

Frisk kept their mouth clenched tightly shut. They didn't know why they had these weird abilities but even if they did they sure as heck weren't telling the psycho plant about them.

"Awww, don't try to play the mute act with me. I heard you warn Undyne. That was weird, if I recall correctly she killed you over and over before. Why are you being so nice to her now?"

Frisk continued to refuse to answer Flowey.

"Ok, well I was hoping this would be nice and easy and then I would give you a fast death but since you're being stubborn…" Frisk shook as the vines tightened themselves painfully around their legs. "I guess it'll have to be painful then!"

Frisk cried out as pain ran through their lower half. The vines were gripping them so tightly Frisk was sure their legs would break any minute. They kept trying to escape but it was pointless. Their attention was completely on the pain they were feeling.

And then...bright blue flashes of light racing around them. Flowey's high pitched cry and a firm set of arms wrapping around Frisk's waist. There was the noise of vines tearing and the vice like grip of the vines vanished. Frisk heard wood splintering...and...the feeling of falling. _Same as last time_ , Frisk thought dully.

But no...not quite the same. Frisk was clasped tightly to Undyne's chest as they both fell down into the darkness.


	9. Chapter 9

Beta: Thank you to tricksterflame for constantly beta'ing my new chapters!

* * *

The worst part about falling and smashing into the ground was Frisk was awake for all of it. Last time they must have fainted or something because once they fell everything blacked out and Frisk woke up on a bed of golden flowers.

This time though, Frisk could feel the air rushing by as they fell clutched tightly in Undyne's grasp. Everything was dark and Frisk was terrified because they couldn't see. Frisk was too terrified to move. The voice they had momentarily found when Undyne was in trouble was gone, stuck inside their throat. Frisk couldn't cry out or even whimper as the air and darkness flying past them sucked out any thoughts Frisk had left.

 _THUD_

Frisk let out the breath of air they were holding in. Undyne's grip loosened and Frisk rolled of her and bounced away into the water. Frisk breathed in a mouthful of dirty water and they jerked upright, spitting and coughing the foul taste out of their mouth and lungs.

Frisk panted and rubbed the water out of their eyes. _Wha-Where are-?_ But of course Frisk knew where they were. Undyne and Frisk had landed in the garbage dump. Or more specifically, Undyne landed on the golden flower bed and Frisk had gotten shoved into the murky water filled with trash.

 _Gross gross gross gross!_ Frisk scrambled back towards Undyne. Their once nice clothes were soaking wet and covered with splotches of what Frisk hoped was mud.

Undyne hadn't moved since they fell and Frisk felt a bit nervous. Gently, they reached out and prodded her. Undyne didn't move and her eyes remained closed. Frisk watched carefully to see if she was breathing but with all her armor on they were having difficulty.

Frisk prodded Undyne again. Still nothing.

Frisk gave Undyne a hearty shove that didn't move her, but apparently managed to jar her slightly. Undyne groaned and, to Frisk's relief, they heard her take in a small breath before settling down.

 _She's still alive_. Frisk leaned back, dizzy with relief. Flowey hadn't managed to kill her. If he had… _it would have been all my fault. He was looking for me._

Frisk felt deeply uneasy. It sounded like Flowey _remembered_ everything from Frisk's past in the Underground. What's more, he even knew it was a RESET. The things Flowey said flew through Frisk's mind.

" _Captain of the Royal Guard…you can never protect them…Every time you die, and then they die. Sometimes they die first! Those runs were always more amusing because of how angry you would get."_

" _I thought the last RESET was just an accident, but it was you wasn't it?"_

Had there been more RESET'S before Frisk came along? They hadn't even thought about it or the ability that allowed them to redo everything. Was Frisk not the first person to have this power?

Frisk bit their bottom lip. If that was true and Flowey also had the power to RESET, did that mean he could do it at any time? Frisk dismissed the idea as soon as they thought it. Surely if Flowey could RESET he would have done so earlier… _I think?_ _Flowey made it sound like he could RESET. But I don't know if he can do it anymore. It doesn't seem like it…so does that mean the power I have came from Flowey?_

Frisk was going to puzzle more over this conundrum before Undyne let out another soft groan. Frisk stopped what they were doing and looked at her concerned. They couldn't let their worries let them forget about Undyne. She wasn't waking up, and falling down a long ways after an intense fight could not be good.

 _What can I do?_ Frisk thought desperately. They looked around them, hoping the answer would pop out of one of the garbage piles and shout "I've come to solve all your problems!"

It sadly didn't happen. Frisk could see nothing but random trash.

Frisk thought about leaving Undyne to look further but they were struck by the sudden fear Flowey might come down looking for them. Undyne was unconscious and Frisk was no match for the demonic plant.

A small noise from above made Frisk look up panicked. Their breathing got shallow and Frisk stumbled to their feet. They couldn't see anything but darkness above them but in their frightened state Frisk was sure they could hear noises above them.

"H-H-" Frisk stuttered and coughed. "He-" The words were stuck in their throat again. Frisk wanted to speak but their mind kept stopping them and sealed up their lips. _I need to not think about it. I need to do something!_

Frisk gritted their teeth and let out a pathetic crying sound. "Hel-"

They needed to be just like before when Undyne was about to be struck by Flowey. They needed their voice the same as when they needed it to apologize to Toriel.

" _Help_." The word was small and spoken as a whisper.

"Help." The word became bigger.

"HELP!" The word burst from Frisk's lips in a shout that echoed in the cavern.

"HELP! HELP! HELP!" Frisk's eyes were closed and they were shouting at the ground. Each time the word tore through their lips Frisk felt a squeeze on their heart. It never became easier to speak even as the word tumbled and echoed around them.

But nobody came.

Frisk's throat was sore from shouting. They called out one last time, praying something would happen. " _Please_." Frisk's voice died away and the cavern became quiet once more.

Frisk curled up next to Undyne, trembling. Nobody was coming. Nobody would come. Nobody could hear them. They wanted to leave Undyne and go for someone. They couldn't leave Undyne because Flowey would come and kill her. Frisk buried their face in Undyne's armor and shuddered, having no more tears left to cry.

"Um…oh, uh, are you ok?"

Frisk's head jerked up.

"I'm sorry, that was rude of me to ask. Of course you aren't ok. I mean, you don't look ok. Ohhhh, I'm sorry I'm making assumptions aren't I?"

Frisk's face broke out into a smile.

 _Napstablook!_

* * *

Never was Frisk happier to see a ghost from their past. Napstablook hovered closer, looking concerned at Undyne and Frisk.

"Is everything ok?" He asked politely. "I was visiting my cousin who lives here and I heard shouting…"

Frisk reached out and hugged Napstablook the best they could. They were expecting not to feel the ghost, but surprisingly Napstablook was slightly corporeal. Enough so that Frisk could wrap their arms tightly around him for a moment before they started to sink into his cold body.

"Oh…this is nice…I haven't gotten a hug since Happstablook left." Napstablook leaned into Frisk's hug.

"So what's wrong?" Napstablook asked after they parted. Frisk frantically pointed to Undyne and opened their mouth to speak- and promptly closed it after all they could get out was a stuttered, "U-U-U-U."

Frisk lowered their head and sighed. Their throat was closing back up again, refusing to let words out. It was just so _difficult_ to talk after all the bullying from the other kids, and when Frisk thought about talking to the monsters whom they had done so much harm to, Frisk's voice refused to come out properly. It had been so much easier just writing things down. Frisk could think about what they wanted to write and not worry about something wrong coming out.

 _But I need my voice now!_ Frisk licked their lips and tried speaking again but Napstablook quickly waved them off.

"You don't have to force yourself for me…"

That wasn't quite the case. Undyne needed help and Frisk needed to communicate what happened.

"Is Undyne ok?"

Frisk shook their head and tried to gesture out what happened. They grabbed one of the flowers and made a scary face, then looked horrified as they smashed the flower into their face. Frisk mimicked Undyne throwing her spears, threw the flower away, and then flopped down onto the ground.

"Ok…I have no idea what you're doing…did you hurt your head?" Napstablook asked. "Could you maybe, just, write it down?"

Frisk wanted to smack themselves. Duh, they still had their bag.

'Undyne's been hurt in battle. I don't know what to do. She won't wake up.'

"Oh," Napstablook hovered closer to Undyne and looked her over, "I can't tell how badly she's hurt but it might be a good idea if we take her home? Do you think so?"

'Does she live nearby?'

"Yes…right down that way. She's my neighbor."

'Can you carry her?'

"…I'm sorry. I don't think I can…" Napstablook hunched over, looking deeply depressed. Then he straightened up and said, "But I might know someone who can. Will you wait here while I go get him?"

* * *

Frisk stared.

And then blinked.

And stared some more.

 _Uh…_ Frisk looked over at Napstablook.

"Usually Bird only carries people across the gap but he agreed to come help us this once." Napstablook seemed pleased as he introduced Frisk to a small yellow bird he brought back with him.

 _There is no way this will work._

Frisk nodded in greeting. The bird ruffled its feathers and cawed.

"Ready to go?" Napstablook asked Bird. It flew over to Undyne and landed on her head. Non to gently, Bird dug its feet into her hair and looked at Napstablook and quacked. "Oh…right. Here we go…" Napstablook raised a small red tape player Frisk hadn't noticed him carrying. He pressed a button and a very cheery and inspirational tune began to play.

Bird stood up straighter and frantically beat its wings. To Frisk's amazement, Undyne was actually being lifted into the air by the tiny creature. Frisk stood open mouthed as they watched Bird begin to move Undyne slowly but surely away from the golden patch of flowers where she had fallen.

"This way please." Napstablook guided Bird and Frisk through the trash heaps.

Frisk pressed their lips together in an attempt not to laugh. The situation with Undyne was dire, but… _this is just SO FUNNY_.

Here they were, being led by a ghost giving a small bird carrying a rather large fish monster with inspirational music playing from the tape player. It was a cheery but short tune that kept repeating. Without realizing it, Frisk started to bop along to the music. They were feeling hopeful and inside them a spark of determination grew as they waded through grimy water and trash heaps.

* * *

It took a little while, but they finally made it to Undyne's house. Napstablook just floated through the door, leaving Frisk to open it for Bird. They crowded inside and Bird, exhausted from the long trip, placed Undyne down on her couch. Bird sighed and collapsed next to her, breathing heavily.

Napstablook shut off the music and went over to check on his friend. "I'm sorry…thank you so much for doing this." He gently smoothed down some of Bird's ruffled feathers as best he could. Bird let out a thankful quack.

"So what do you think we should do next?" Napstablook asked Frisk.

Frisk wasn't sure if there was really anything they could do. They would have liked to run back to Snowdin and grab the doctor but that wasn't an option for several reasons. For one thing, there might not be time, and as for the others-Frisk was too nervous to go back after leaving so suddenly.

 _Make her comfortable, I guess._

Frisk wrote down their suggestion and Napstablook happily agreed. They spent the next few minutes struggling to get Undyne out of her armor. Napstablook couldn't be much help with the heavy pieces so he could only give Frisk suggestions of where to pull off the armor. It was pretty difficult since the armor was a little too heavy for Frisk. More than once they ended up flat on their butt after pulling hard on a piece only to have it come flying off and sending Frisk toppling to the ground.

After they were done Undyne was left with a black tank top and skinny blue jeans that were underneath all the armor. Frisk wasn't positive but Undyne looked a little more peaceful than she had before.

They noticed Undyne was sweaty and moved to dab off some of the sweat when Napstablook stopped them. "Uh, um…sorry, but I don't think you should do that. Undyne is a water monster so maybe splashing her with water might be more beneficial…sorry, I was rude to interrupt you I'm sure you know what you're doing."

Frisk shook their head and smiled at Napstablook, thanking him for his words with a nod. They went over to the sink and filled up a cup to the brim with water. Carefully Frisk walked over to the couch. They dipped their hand in the water and, feeling awkward, patted Undyne's face with the water.

Undyne sighed and leaned into the touch. Frisk, bolstered by the positive reaction, began gently patting and pouring water onto Undyne. By the end she still wasn't awake, but she was definitely relaxed and sleeping soundly.

'Do you know if there's a doctor nearby?' Frisk asked Napstablook once Undyne had settled.

"Well, there's Doctor Alphys in Hotland," Napstablook said, "I believe she and Undyne are friends."

Frisk was about to ask about Alphys further when suddenly an orange lizard dressed in a lab coat burst into the house.

"Undyne! Where is she? Is she ok? I saw everything on the cameras and I came running as fast as I could and- oh…ah, h-h-hello." The stream of questions halted and the lizard began stuttering when she caught sight of Frisk.

"Oh, hello Alphys. How are you?" Napstablook asked pleasantly.

Frisk felt like they were about to get whiplash looking from the lizard to Napstablook, back to the Alphys and following her eyes to where Undyne was laying, and then realizing the lizard had shifted her gaze back to Frisk. Alphys looked torn for a second before she flung herself in the direction of Undyne.

"I went to the garbage dump first but then Mettaton called from the lab and said you were able to move her here. How is she?" Alphys fussed over Undyne.

'She's settled down. But we don't know what else to do. Can you help her doctor?' Frisk wrote.

"Ummm, ohhhh no. I'm not a medical doctor, I'm a scientist. But I wish I was a medical doctor, maybe then I could actually help others instead of-" Alphys clamped her mouth shut and turned away. "Anyways, there isn't anything I can do," she finished weakly.

Everyone in the room sighed and a gloom of depression settled over them.

Bird squawked and both Napstablook and Alphys straightened up at whatever Bird said.

"That's true. Undyne does keep one around here somewhere!" Alphys said excitedly. She went over to the drawers in the kitchen and began rifling through them. Nabstablook went drifting through the cupboards higher up.

 _What are they looking for?_ Frisk watched them confusedly. The house was starting to get messy (although it wasn't that neat to begin with). Alphys was just chucking stuff out of drawers and Undyne's armor laid scattered around.

"I found it." Napstablook said, popping his head out of a cupboard. "It's on the top shelf. Let me see if I can-" he disappeared and there was a soft shifting sound coming from inside. Alphys grabbed and chair and pulled it over, yanking open the cupboard when she could. Napstablook was carefully pushing what looked to be an orange box towards the edge. It started to teeter and as it fell Alphys caught it in her claws. She jumped off the chair and raced back over to Undyne.

"A first aid kit!" Alphys said triumphantly, holding out the bright orange box. "I knew Undyne had to have one somewhere! She always pushes herself too hard and keeps getting hurt…"

Alphys, Napstablook, and Frisk did their best to patch up Undyne. They took care of a few scratches and paid special attention to a nasty scratch on her head. When they were done, Bird and Napstablook took their leave. "I'm right next door if you need anything," Napstablook said. Bird twittered and ruffled its feathers. Frisk didn't understand but by the way Alphys nodded they assumed Bird was offering the same.

Left alone together, Frisk and Alphys nervously looked at each other. Alphys seemed flustered about something and Frisk was feeling uncomfortable being left alone with a monster they had never met before, in this or their previous life.

"Uh-ahem, would you like to sit down at the table?" Alphys offered suddenly. "You know and, uh, maybe eat some ramen together?" Frisk didn't know what ramen was but before they could do anything Alphys blushed and said, "I-I-I mean I don't think Undyne has ramen but I do! But not here. So, um, maybe not then…"

Frisk decided to give the nervous monster a break and walked over to the kitchen. They grabbed two glasses, filled them up with water and placed them on the table. Frisk hopped up into one of the chairs and patted the table while looking at Alphys, inviting her to sit with them. Alphys' face brightened up and she eagerly sat down.

"So, hello! My name is Alphys and I'm the royal scientist," Alphys introduced herself. "I don't know if Undyne mentioned me?"

Frisk shook their head and Alphys' smile faltered. "Oh…that's ok. I guess I wouldn't expect her to. I didn't see her mention anything but I thought she might have- no, no, I'm being silly. Sorry."

Alphys' words didn't make any sense to Frisk. They tried to shrug it off.

'We didn't talk about friends much.' Frisk guessed Alphys and Undyne must know each other pretty well based off how Alphys was acting.

"W-W-We're not exactly f-f-f-friends. I-I mean, I wouldn't presume us to be…" Alphys said despondently.

The uncomfortable atmosphere from before came back in full force. Frisk sighed.

They decided they couldn't do much worse so Frisk just went for the question that had been buzzing in their brain since Alphys arrived. 'I'm glad you came. How did you know we needed help?'

"Oh…um. Well, you know I've been fascinated by human culture. Especially anime!" Alphys' mood did another one eighty. "And, I've been, uh, 'observing' you since you left the ruins on my console back at my lab. I was just curious," Alphys hastily added when Frisk looked shocked, "and I was going to help stop you if you did something bad but you're really great! Like a noble villain maybe? Or not a villain since you aren't evil but you can't be the heroine because that's Undyne's role- so maybe an awesome sidekick?" Alphys started rambling.

Frisk was left befuddled. Alphys had been watching them this entire time? She saw everything they did, which was either creepy or maybe slightly flattering? Frisk was leaning more towards the creepy side.

"But I saw you and Undyne being attacked b-b-by Flo-that flower and I usually stay in my lab but I was so s-s-s-scared that you were both killed and before I knew it I was rushing outside." Alphys looked like she was regretting that choice now. "I'm sorry I wasn't much help."

'Thank you for coming.' Frisk smiled and patted Alphys' claw, 'But stop watching me through the cameras. That's creepy.'

"Haha, right." Alphys grimaced. "I was going to try and help you get home though, if you want." Alphys said hesitantly.

Frisk didn't respond. If Alphys had been watching them all this time, she would most likely know Frisk's intentions. Was she trying to be kind by offering them help? Was she lying?

Neither Frisk nor Alphys made an attempt to reinstitute the conversation after that. Alphys looked like there was something else she wanted to say but every time she opened her mouth she would glance over to Undyne and shut it again.

The time ticked by and Frisk's eyelids were beginning to droop. They tried pinching themselves to stay awake but their head continued to bob as they struggled.

Alphys noticed and instead of suggesting sleep, she eagerly brought out a DVD case.

"Um, since w-w-we should probably stay up to keep an eye on Undyne, did you want to try watching this?" Alphys suggested excitedly.

Frisk looked over sleepily at the case. Their eyesight was a little blurry and Frisk needed to rub the sleepiness out of their eyes to take a good look at-

Oh no.

Oh heeeeeeeck no.

Alphys was holding the DVD case to 'Mew Mew Kissy Cutie.'


	10. Chapter 10

I just want to take a quick second to thank my beta reader tricksterflame for being amazing and helping me so much with my chapters. I also really want to thank all the people who have left reviews, especially Extreme Light 9, animefan29 and LuminousMoonRay. The reviews really help me keep going and make me smile when I need it most. All my gratitude and love to all of you.

* * *

Frisk had plenty of traumatizing memories. There were so many that they believed their life was nothing but horror and pain. But out of all those memories watching Mew Mew Kissy Cutie with Alphys had to be one of the worst.

Frisk was dead inside. They kept glancing over at Undyne, hoping at some point she would wake up and save them from this hell. Next to Frisk, Alphys let out an excited squeal. Apparently something important had just happened. Frisk didn't know what it was- heck, they didn't know what this entire series was.

 _How can a show this bad be created?_ Frisk wondered as they watched the subpar animated girl transform on screen.

"N-Now see here is when Mew Mew almost gets caught in a kiss by Thief Handsome! But her true love comes to her rescue even though he doesn't know Mew Mew's secret identity! It shows how true love can overcome all barriers even when you're hiding something from the one you…" Alphys falls silent. She twisted her claws anxiously and said, "Y-Y-You know w-w-w-what? This isn't even a g-g-good episode anyways. L-Let's skip it."

Frisk was torn between relief of not having to watch the rest of the episode and dreading watching all of the next one. How many episodes had they watched? It felt like seventy.

"Onto episode five!" Alphys said cheerfully. Frisk sunk into the chair and closed their eyes. When they didn't hear the irritating "IT'S SHOWTIME" opening song Frisk looked over at Alphys.

"S-Sorry, are you tired?" Alphys asked, "I didn't think about it but after everything you must be pretty exhausted."

Frisk hadn't thought much of how they were feeling. Ever since they fell into the Underground Frisk always felt like they were in a constant state of anxiety and exhaustion. Their concern over Undyne and rush after the battle with Flowey kept them alert. It was enough to keep them going for now. Frisk was about to disagree with Alphys when she jumped off her chair and brought over a small blanket to drape over Frisk.

"Go ahead and rest, I'll keep watch." Alphys turned off the TV.

Well, if it would get them out of watching more Mew Mew Kissy Cutie Frisk was willing to take a nap. Frisk nestled down and closed their eyes, ready to rest.

Except they couldn't. Twenty minutes later Frisk was still wide awake. They were tired and wanted so badly to fall asleep. But their brain was buzzing and Frisk couldn't get comfortable on the chair. Their head kept lolling around trying to find a comfortable position and Frisk had no idea what to do with their arms or legs. They constantly crossed and uncrossed them, hoping something would feel right.

Frustrated, Frisk got up and threw off the cover. Resting wasn't working.

Alphys looked up from the book she was reading near Undyne. "Is everything alright?"

'Can't sleep' Frisk wrote grumpily. They sat down next to Alphys and scribbled a little doodle on the side of their notebook.

"So, uh, about what I said earlier," Alphys said, "have you thought about it at all?"

'About what?' Alphys said a lot of things and Frisk wasn't sure which one she was talking about.

"About helping you to go home." Alphys said quietly. Frisk continued to draw, still unsure how to respond.

"I've seen what you've done to help others. And you get along really well with everyone down here. So I wouldn't mind helping you…b-but you might have some trouble with this robot I built called Mettaton. When I saw you coming I tried to disable his anti-human combat features and I-I-" Alphys reached out and looked as if she was about to hold Undyne's hand. She hesitated and her hand fell back down to her side.

"I'm a fraud," Alphys said suddenly, fat tears rolling down her face. Alphys dropped the book she was holding and hugged herself. "I'm nothing but a liar and a coward."

Frisk was alarmed. They didn't know what brought on Alphys' tears and weren't sure how to proceed with this strange turn of events.

Alphys sniffed, "I'm sorry. This must seem so strange to you…but after watching you I feel like I really know you but of course you don't know me and I'm just-" Alphys' lip quivered and more tears rushed down her face, "I'm just nobody."

 _Oh man what do I do?_ Frisk patted Alphys' back in an attempt at a comforting gesture but she shied away from their touch.

"I should just go!" Alphys stood up. "But I don't want to leave Undyne alone!" She sat back down. "But I'm probably just taking up space by being here!" Alphys stood up again.

 _Enough of this nonsense!_ Frisk grabbed Alphys' lab coat and pulled her down.

'Tell me what's wrong.' Frisk did not want to deal with Alphys' break down. They hardly knew the monster at all and her actions were confusing Frisk. But they also knew they didn't want to be left alone with an injured Undyne. So if acting as Alphys' therapist would keep her here, Frisk would do their best.

Alphys blubbered something Frisk couldn't make out. She continued crying and Frisk waited patiently until Alphys could regain some control over herself. Unfortunately it was taking Alphys quite some time and Frisk was beginning to lose patience with her.

'You are not a failure!' Frisk remembered where they heard the name Alphys before. Mettaton had mentioned her during their fight; she was the scientist who evacuated the monsters. 'Name one time you've failed!'

Alphys only wept harder when she read Frisk's words. _Ok maybe that wasn't the best direction to take._

'I bet you've done a lot of good!' Frisk was only assuming but someone who worked hard to protect others couldn't be that terrible.

'Undyne likes you!' Frisk had no doubt anyone willing to watch the entirety of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie with Alphys had to either be crazy or liked the lizard a lot. Undyne was probably both. 'She trusts you!' After all Undyne believed Alphys' word on the so-called "battle cry." There was some sort of relationship between Alphys and Undyne that Frisk didn't understand yet but given by the way Alphys flushed at the mention of Undyne Frisk was beginning to think it was-

"You don't know anything!"

Ohhhh, ok so maybe Alphys flushing wasn't embarrassment but rather anger. She was glaring at Frisk through her tears.

"Undyne doesn't-shouldn't trust me! I've done nothing good, _ever_!" Alphys stood up, shaking angrily. She wasn't terribly intimidating-compared to Undyne and Sans at least- but she still struck an imposing figure.

Frisk scrambled up to meet her gaze.

"I-I've f-f-f-failed plenty of times! A-And I-I-I can't even o-own up to it!" Alphys shouted.

 _It can't be that bad_ , Frisk wanted to tell Alphys. If they were talking ultimate failures Frisk beat Alphys by miles.

"Y-You know what! Here! Take this!" Alphys suddenly shoved a key into Frisk's hands. "G-G-Go take a look and see! I-I'm n-n-n-nothing special! I'm horrible!" Alphys pushed Frisk and turned away, her body heaving with sobs. Frisk stood awkwardly, desperately wanting to escape the situation but at the same time reluctant to leave Alphys so distraught.

Alphys took in another breath and froze. She was thinking something over and suddenly whirled around. "I changed my mind! G-Give me back the key. That was a stupid idea." She muttered to herself. "It won't c-c-change anything."

"NONSENSE ALPHYS!" Both Alphys and Frisk jumped as the door flew open. Mettaton rolled in, his arms spread wide open. "This sounds like a brilliant idea!"

"Mettaton!" Alphys squeaked, "What are you doing here?"

"My dear Alphys, you were taking too long! I was worried sick! And we were supposed to do upgrades today as well, no?" Mettaton reached forward and grasped Alphys' hands. "But, when one door closes another chance for a new show opens! I heard your conversation with the human and I think it's marvelous!"

"You…do?"

"Yes! I've always wondered what was in that basement you never let me into! You always lock the door behind you so I can never follow you in!"

"You-wait, you were-you tried following me?"

Mettaton let go of Alphys, "I'll admit it! I was a sneak! But only for the pure art of investigation! In fact, that will be my new show! Mettaton Mystery Hour!"

"Mettaton I don't think-"

"YES! My dear, don't think! Thinking just gets in the way of success! One must do!" Mettaton moved over to Frisk and shook their hand. "Hello human! I am the one and only star of the Underground, Mettaton! I'm sure you've heard of me."

Frisk didn't have an answer to that and Mettaton wasn't waiting for one.

"And so, me and the human shall do and bid you adieu!" Mettaton moved fast. He plucked Frisk from the ground and grabbed their belongings as he dragged them outside Undyne's house.

"Hey, stop!" Alphys started to run after them.

"Alphys! I am ashamed of you! There lies on of your loves, broken and ill! You would just leave her alone?" Mettaton tsked.

Alphys stopped in her tracks which gave Mettaton just enough time to haul Frisk out of her reach. "Well then, goodbye! Give Undyne my love when she wakes up!" Mettaton wheeled away, leaving a stunned Alphys behind and dragging a bewildered Frisk along with him.

* * *

 _What…What just happened?_

Frisk watched as Undyne's house and Alphys disappeared. Mettaton was humming happily and Frisk- well, Frisk was beginning to wonder if everyone in the Underground felt the need to pick them up like a doll.

"Hmm, now which way was it again?" Mettaton talked out loud to himself. "It's been awhile…ah, yes this way." Mettaton noticed Frisk looking at him. "We don't want to go the other way. We'll arrive right on the doorstep of that annoying village." Mettaton's lights dimmed with displeasure. Frisk squirmed in his grasp.

"Ah ah ah~" Mettaton wiggled his finger at Frisk, "I'm not letting you go. You're my ticket to higher ratings!"

Frisk's few interactions with Mettaton before gave them zero understanding of the robot. He'd popped in to declare how evil they were-which nearly every monster had done- and then challenged them to what Frisk thought would have been an epic battle. Frisk remembered the sickening fear of seeing Mettaton's battle form, however-the robot bragged on and on about his superior powers but with one hit from Frisk he went down easily.

Now it was only the memory of their relief at Mettaton's demise that gave Frisk a sickening feeling.

Otherwise they knew almost nothing about the robot. There were posters of him plastered all around the Underground; he was some sort of television star? But at least Frisk wasn't scared of him. Rather, they were more annoyed than anything else, annoyed and worried about Undyne.

 _Alphys is still with her. She'll take care of Undyne,_ Frisk thought.

 _Alphys can barely take care of herself,_ a traitorous voice in the back of Frisk's mind said.

 _That's not true! She evacuated monsters to protect them from me_ , Frisk thought back fiercely.

 _And she also completely lost it for no reason. Face it, that lizard has issues._

 _And so do I!_ Frisk glared down at the ground. Small patches of glowing grass and little blue mushrooms danced past as Mettaton moved them through Waterfall. The cruel voice in Frisk's head fell silent, leaving Frisk sulky and angry.

* * *

Undyne's house was closer to the end of Waterfall than Frisk originally thought. Soon the grass and water gave way to solid rock, and then a harsh and hot wind hit Frisk in the face. The cool air of Waterfall was gone, replaced by dryness that soon left Frisk thirsty.

Hotland wasn't nearly as pretty as Waterfall had been. Frisk soon got bored of watching the orange and brown rock formations around them. The lava beneath the bridges they crossed over was _slightly_ more interesting, especially when Mettaton wheeled over it so fast Frisk clung tightly to his arm-incredibly nervous about being dropped.

"Hey, Mettaton!" Two knights dressed in black armor similar to Undyne's called out. They were standing in front of their path.

"Hello my dear fans! Sorry, no time to stop for an autograph now!" Mettaton chirped, "Oh, who am I kidding? There's always time for autographs! Here, let me borrow this," Mettaton grabbed Frisk's notebook and pencil. "Who shall I make it out to?" He asked, pencil poised at the ready.

"Oh, um, no we don't-well, actually could you make it out to RG 01? And RG 02?" The first guard asked hesitantly.

"Of course!" Mettaton signed the autographs with a flourish and pulled out the pieces of paper to hand to the guards; he handed the notebook back to Frisk, "Now, if you'll excuse me-"

The second guard held out his spear, blocking their way. The first guard jumped guiltily and stuffed both pieces of paper into his armor. "Sorry Mettaton, we actually wanted to ask you something."

"If it's about my newest show I can't reveal anything!" Mettaton said.

"No…it's not about that." RG 02 said slowly.

"You just came from Waterfall, right?" RG 01 asked politely, "We were wondering if you saw Undyne? She's supposed to be coming here with an actual human! But she's a little late…"

"Undyne? Hmmm, I believe I last saw her taking a nap on her couch. You Royal Guard work so hard!" Mettaton's grid lit up and flashed, "I'm sure she'll be by soon!"

"That's odd, she's usually so punctual…and she never sleeps on the job." RG 01 said.

"Well capturing humans is difficult work, is it not? I think she deserves a break." Mettaton said defensively.

"No-I mean yes of course she does!" RG 01 sounded flustered.

"If you are quite done interrogating me, I must be on my way. Stars, like Royal Guardsmen, are always busy!" Mettaton shooed at the two guards. They stood guiltily aside and Mettaton quickly moved past them.

Frisk hadn't noticed with their attention on the guards, but almost right behind them a large white building with the word LAB written over it loomed ahead. Mettaton entered the sliding door and, _finally_ , placed Frisk down.

A soft whirring sound filled the laboratory. The lights were dimmed slightly, but Frisk needed to squint a bit as they looked at the large, bright screen in front of them. On the screen was their face, squinting back at them.

 _Alphys did mention she was watching me_ , Frisk grimaced. It was uncomfortable knowing someone had been watching them this entire time, and seeing the screen just made it worse.

"I do wish Alphys would get a better monitor. This one is so old and ugly," Mettaton commented, noticing Frisk's attention on the screen.

'Is there a way to turn it off?' Frisk wrote.

"Turn it off? Why? Don't you love seeing your face on the big screen?" Mettaton asked.

Mettaton sighed when Frisk went back to writing in their notebook. "Can't you just say it?" He asked. Frisk glared and continued writing. If there was anyone who could understand why they had trouble speaking out loud it certainly wouldn't be Mettaton. The entire way from Undyne's house Mettaton chattered even though Frisk never answered him. His favorite topic was himself. If Frisk had known almost nothing about the robot before they certainly knew almost everything about him now; Mettaton's favorite shows about himself, his love for the hotel he owned, his least favorite employee (a poor guy named Burgerpants-seriously, who named their child that?), Mettaton's this, Mettaton's that. Ugh, Frisk wanted to yank their ears off by the end of it.

Frisk showed Mettaton their writing, 'No. I want it off.' Frisk insisted. Mettaton shrugged in confusion but did as Frisk asked and pulled the plug on the monitor. The screen went black and Frisk sighed in relief.

Now. It was time to move onto more important things.

'Why am I here?' Frisk wrote underneath their previous words.

"It's quite a long story little human! I won't bore you with the small details!" Mettaton said, "Why don't we just head over to the basement and use that key Alphys gave you? Hmmm?"

Frisk rolled their eyes and pointed at their question again.

Mettaton deflated and crossed him arms. "It's for the ratings silly! Having a human on my show will push us to the top!"

As Mettaton was the only star of the Underground technically he was already the top but Frisk chose not to mention that and instead focused on one more thing.

'Don't you want to kill me?' Frisk wrote.

Mettaton nodded, which involved moving his entire square body in a slight downward motion. "Killing you and taking your soul to cross the barrier alone was my original plan. After all, there's an entire world of humans out there who just don't know what they're missing! But I've been keeping up with the polls and your popularity in the Underground is just soaring! If I killed you now I would alienate my most important fans!"

That was…not what Frisk thought he would say.

"Plus, this is so much more interesting! I've been wondering what Alphys keeps in the basement _forever_. We can swing it as a spooky mystery, or maybe an investigative documentary. I guess it depends on what's down there." Mettaton said. "And, if it doesn't work out I can always try killing you later on. Fame doesn't last forever darling, your popularity might be high now but it's sure to drop sometime."

 _This is just a waste of time_ , Frisk started walking away from Mettaton. He only wanted their soul for himself; or he was just going to film a stupid TV show. Frisk didn't want to help Mettaton with either of his goals.

Frisk was torn between going back to Undyne to make sure she was alright and heading off to meet with Asgore alone. Frisk tried to reason out one or the other, but before they could make a decision they were being pulled back to Mettaton.

 _Curse his mechanical arms!_ Frisk dragged their feet on the ground. Mettaton could pull them back but Frisk wasn't going to make it easy.

"Look kid, this thing isn't happening without you and I'm not giving you an option here. We're investigating that basement whether you like it or not." Mettaton held Frisk in the air and took the key from their hand. Frisk attempted a hearty kick at Mettaton's head but missed when Mettaton pulled back.

"Now, let's see what's down there, shall we?" Mettaton asked cheerfully.


	11. Chapter 11

Mettaton literally _threw_ Frisk into the room. They panicked, thinking there would be stairs leading downwards, and tried to protect themselves by shielding their head. Instead of falling down stairs, Frisk collapsed onto an elevator floor. They scrambled up quickly, but Mettaton was quicker, getting into the elevator and closing the door shut.

"Hmmm, I assume the red button will take us to the basement." Mettaton pressed it and the elevator jerked with movement. The ride was smooth for about five seconds before-of course-something started going wrong.

" **WARNING! WARNING! ELEVATOR LOSING POWER!"** A loud mechanical voice said.

"Well that shouldn't be happening…" Mettaton said.

The elevator began to shake and a ride warning light flashed. The elevator began to descend faster and Mettaton lost his balance, falling onto the floor next to Frisk. The mechanical warning voice started slurring, the words no longer making sense. The elevator jerked and Mettaton and Frisk went flying into a corner.

"Alphys, do something!" Mettaton shouted, covering his head with his arms.

 _Alphys isn't here stupid!_ Frisk gritted their teeth and attempted to hang onto _something_ as they slid around with the movement of the elevator.

And just as suddenly as it started, it stopped with one final jolt. The lights went out and for a second Frisk thought they had fainted. When they realized they were still alive and relatively unharmed, Frisk scrambled off the floor and began feeling their way around the elevator. Their hands met with smooth paneling until - _click!_ \- the door opened in front of them, letting in a dim light.

As bad as the lighting was, it still allowed Frisk to see enough. Mettaton was hunched over, silent. Frisk made a beeline for the elevator buttons and pressed one, hoping it would do something.

Nothing happened.

Frisk pressed another button, and then another, desperately trying to get the elevator to move again.

Nothing.

Frisk groaned and banged their head against the wall. _I really hope this isn't our only way back_.

"That-That was," Mettaton started speaking. Frisk turned to look at him; he was quivering. "AMAZING~! Did I get it all on film?" Mettaton gushed. He jumped up excitedly and his grid lit up excitedly. A whirring noise echoed from within him and Mettaton paused, as if he was waiting on something.

"Hmm, I'm going to need to cut some of that." The whirring noise stopped and Mettaton took a good look around. "Oh dear, is the power out?" Mettaton sighed. "This doesn't offer optimal lighting at all."

Frisk huffed and stomped out of the elevator. Mettaton was obviously not going to be of any help. If Frisk wanted to get out of here it seemed like they were going to have to do it themselves.

"Wait for me!" Mettaton quickly caught up to Frisk. While Frisk was staring straight ahead, ignoring everything around them, Mettaton was getting full shots of the dingy hallway and narrating to his imaginary audience.

"And what does this say?" Mettaton stopped when a panel on the wall suddenly lit up. He grabbed the back of Frisk's shirt to prevent them from walking further.

"Something about the king - I hope this isn't one of Alphys' fanfictions - and doing what she means to do annnd unleashing the power of the soul." Mettaton said. "How dull. Let's just take a quick glance at the rest of these and we can linger on them later in editing." Mettaton scootered down the hallway, pausing in front of each panel to take a photo of it. He didn't wait for Frisk before he turned down the hallway and disappeared.

Frisk hurried to catch up with Mettaton but a word on the final panel caught their eye. Frisk paused before it and read-

ENTRY NUMBER 5

 _I've done it. Using the blueprints, I've extracted it from the human souls. I believe this is what gives their souls the strength to persist after death. The will to keep living…The resolve to change fate. Let's call this power…_

 _DETERMINATION_

A small shiver went down Frisk's spine. The word determination stood out in front of them, bold and uncomfortably foreboding.

What _was_ Alphys hiding down here? She extracted determination from human souls? For what purpose?

Frisk turned away from the entry and ran after Mettaton. Suddenly, they were glad they weren't down here alone. Annoying as Mettaton might be, Frisk felt slightly braver with him being flamboyant and loud in this unnerving place.

"I knew Alphys was hiding these somewhere!" Mettaton's loud voice carried down the hall. Frisk arrived in the room just in time to see Mettaton sticking his hand into a vending machine. "She told me we didn't have any Poptato Chisps left! But I knew-I _knew_ -she was lying to me!" Mettaton pulled out a bag of chisps and promptly shoved them into an open compartment in his body; a small metal door clanged shut over the bag.

"Which direction shall we go in my fellow explorer?" Mettaton asked Frisk. Frisk ignored him and stepped up to the large door located in the center of the room. It had four different colored locks on it, all empty of light. It looked important. Frisk attempted to pry open the doors but gave up after a few seconds. It was obvious no amount of force was going to make these doors budge.

"We can't go that way. Choose left or right." Mettaton pointed in each direction. Frisk, deciding there was no better way, chose to walk down the left hallway.

As soon as Frisk and Mettaton stepped foot in the hallway, more green writing on the wall panels lit up. This time Mettaton didn't even bother stopping to take a look, and Frisk followed suit. Whatever Alphys had written about down here didn't have anything do to with them. Frisk needed to concentrate on finding their way out of this hellish basement.

The next room they arrived in was just as poor looking as the rest of the basement. The walls and ceiling were beginning to crack, and there was a damp smell that made Frisk wrinkle their nose.

Frisk and Mettaton poked around the room. There were beds that reminded Frisk of a doctor's patient table. Frisk avoided those. They reminded them of the times Frisk went to the doctor's office before being handed off to the orphanage. Frisk hadn't gone often, they only went when someone in the neighborhood mentioned Frisk's injuries to their parents.

But other than the beds and sinks, there was nothing else in the room. Mettaton was disappointed, and became even more downtrodden when the next room they looked into was empty except for some kind of switch with a red colored slot in the center.

"This is so booooring. There's gotta be _something_ around here worth looking at." Mettaton left the room and, by the sound of it, started playing with the water faucets in the adjacent room.

Frisk stayed where they were and took a closer look around the smaller room. Besides the red switch they couldn't see anything else on the walls or the ceiling…but-Frisk reached down and pulled up a small scrap of paper they hadn't seen before. They couldn't read much of it. The words 'drain…dropped it…' stood out but Frisk couldn't read anymore. Frisk thought about pocketing the note, wondering if it would be of any-

"AGH!" Mettaton's shout brought Frisk running. The robot had fallen to the floor and was pointing at the sink.

A large, white blob took up the entire space. Three sets of hollow eyes stared in different directions as the monster swayed back and forth. The monster let out a high pitched laugh and moved its faces closer to Mettaton. As it moved the body spilled over the sink and splashed onto the floor. Frisk's nose wrinkled when the strong scent of burnt glue hit them. (Don't ask how they knew that smell. Let's just say when the kids at the foster home got bored, they did anything and everything to relieve their boredom.)

"Stay back! Don't you know who I am?" Mettaton backed up. He didn't appear bothered by the smell; benefits of being a robot Frisk assumed.

The monster opened its mouth but instead of a laugh a loud dial-up noise came from it. The sound was repeated again from Mettaton. Mettaton fumbled and frantically tried to right himself. Frisk ran over, trying to help the distraught robot. The gluey smell got stronger and Frisk gagged.

"My cellphone…it's messing with my cellphone!" Mettaton brought out a small device that continued to echo the monster's noise.

Frisk tried to look at the cellphone but Mettaton was holding it away. He kept jabbing at the screen, saying stuff like "No!" and "Absolutely not, stop it!"

"Cooo…joi…fun!" A few hazy words made their way through the cacophony.

Frisk grabbed Mettaton's arm and yanked, pointing excitedly at the blob monster. Mettaton chose to ignore them and continued backing away from the other monster. He gave up messing with his cellphone and dropped it.

As the cellphone clattered to the floor the monster's body began to warp and grotesque smiling faces appeared in the fleshy, white mess that made up the creature's body.

"-oomm…innnn…eh…nnn!" The words from the cellphone were no clearer than before.

Small white dots gathered around Mettaton and Frisk. Frisk tore their hand away from one that got too close. The spot where the dot touched felt like it was _burning_.

"Stay back!" Mettaton tried warding off the attack but did little better than Frisk. A small white heart appeared in front of Mettaton and was suddenly filled with the color yellow. Small bolts of electricity shot out of the heart and hit the blob monster. It writhed and loud shrieks came from inside the phone. The attacks around them doubled. Frisk hunched in, wincing as the attacks hit their bare skin causing more pain. The air was getting fuzzy with white.

Mettaton stopped his attacks when he saw they were doing nothing but causing more problems. His heart faded away and Mettaton's grid panel deadened.

"Well, I'm afraid that's all I've got!" Mettaton said, "I guess I'll need to exit stage right!" His panel lit up brightly once again and, to Frisk's disbelief, Mettaton sped off without them. They could hear him shouting in pain as several attacks made contact.

 _That no good, snobbish, stupid robot!_ Frisk prepared to be hit by more attacks. Maybe if they were lucky they could dodge and escape after Mettaton.

Except, the attacks never came. As soon as Mettaton was out of sight, the white dots began to disappear. The creepy monster was still in front of them, but it was no longer attacking.

Instead, it was wobbling back and forth, watching Frisk.

"Coome jo he fu!" The words from the cellphone came quicker now, but still unintelligible to Frisk's ears.

The creature wobbled forward and backward. Forward and backward. Forward and backward. If Frisk didn't know better they would think…

Frisk glanced down at the cellphone and then back up to the blob monster.

 _I shouldn't even be questioning this kind of stuff anymore_. Frisk leaned down and picked up the cellphone. They could see the screen clearly now. There was a picture. A hazy and poor picture, but Frisk could tell it was obviously the monster that stood in front of them. Under the picture it said, 'Friend request from Memoryhead! Accept or Decline?'

Frisk hit accept, because why not?

"Come join the fun!" Chirped a voice from the cellphone. It still had a little of a dial tone sound but the words were much clearer now. "It's a real get together!"

Frisk thought quickly about what to do. Memoryhead was calm now, and they didn't want to anger the monster like Mettaton had by ignoring Memoryhead's friend request. But Frisk was reluctant to agree to any kind of 'fun' Memoryhead had in mind.

'I am very sorry but I can't play right now,' Frisk typed into the phone, 'I have somewhere important to be.'

"That's a shame." Memoryhead's smiles turned into scowls and Frisk saw the white dots beginning to form around them again. Frantically Frisk typed, 'But maybe we can play later?'

Memoryhead stopped frowning and appeared to be pondering Frisk's answer. The attack vanished and Frisk held their breath.

"Oh well…maybe later then." Memoryhead's smiles came back. It oozed out of the sink it was in and pushed itself into the other sink. "Bye-byyye…" Memoryhead slowly disappeared down the drain. Frisk watched it nervously. One of Memoryhead's smiling faces was the last piece of it to leave. The face gave Frisk one last wide smile.

And then Memoryhead was gone.


	12. Chapter 12

Frisk walked over to the sink to check that Memoryhead was really gone. They saw nothing left of the blobby creature and Frisk sagged in relief.

 _What the hell does Alphys have down here?_ Frisk stared absently at the drain.

"That was MAGNIFICENT! I got so many great shots! Of course when the actual show comes out we'll need to edit you out and edit me in but that was an excellent job as my stunt double!" Mettaton called from the doorway. Apparently he hadn't gone very far when he abandoned Frisk.

Frisk shot Mettaton a dirty look. He was lucky he was all the way across the room because the next chance Frisk got they were going to punch him right in the- _No, no violence. Deep breaths,_ Frisk reminded themselves.

Frisk glanced down one last time at the sink and noticed a red glimmer down the sinkhole. Frisk leaned down for a closer look and saw a small red key attached to some gunk in the drain. They stuck out their tongue in disgust as they pulled the key from its nest of grossness.

But hey, red colored slot in the other room and here was a red key. Didn't take a genius to figure out what needed to be done next. Frisk walked over to the other room and fit the key into the slot. To their delight the panel lit up and Frisk waited eagerly for something to happen. Something like an elevator from heaven coming down and taking them out of this hellhole.

It didn't happen. The panel remained lit but no elevator from heaven showed itself to Frisk. _To bad it couldn't be that simple_.

"Are you doing something in there? Don't do anything important when the camera isn't rolling!" Mettaton shouted at Frisk from the other room. Frisk rolled their eyes and simply walked back to where Mettaton was waiting for them. Despite his words, Mettaton hadn't taken another step into the room where Memoryhead was seen last. He was probably too scared.

"What were you doing?" Mettaton asked. Frisk quickly wrote about finding the key and putting it into the panel. Mettaton was unimpressed but seemed happy he hadn't missed recording anything important.

They left the room and made their way back to the main lobby of the basement. Frisk took a look around to see if the key had done anything in here, and noticed that one of the locks on the door was now glowing red. They tapped excitedly on Mettaton's arm to gain his attention and pointed at the door. Mettaton and Frisk looked over the door and attempted to open it again, but the door remained determinedly shut.

 _Darnit!_ Frisk had been hoping the power room would open up to them now. Exploring more of the basement was not appealing, especially after their run in with Memoryhead.

"Hmmm." Mettaton said, "It appears we need three more keys to unlock the door. A pity that we have to do them one by one. The documentary would be so much more dramatic if we placed them all in at once." He tapped one of the unlit locks.

 _That means we'll have to explore the right hallway then_ , Frisk thought unexcitedly.

Down the right hallway was a much larger room with several comfortable looking beds, a few potted plants, some shelves with a couple of random items on them, and, surprisingly, a dog bowl lying on the ground. Frisk even noticed a few small pieces of kibble left over in the bowl.

Frisk wrote, 'Does Alphys have a dog?'

Mettaton watched them as they wrote and answered immediately. "I don't think so. I mean, she buys a lot of dog food but I've never seen a dog around the laboratory."

'If she buys dog food then doesn't that mean she has a dog?' Frisk wrote exasperatedly.

"I thought she was just giving it to Undyne for the dog sentries." Mettaton said.

 _Well apparently not all of it_ , Frisk toed the bowl with their foot but decided to let it go. If there was a dog down here, Frisk felt more confident dealing with a fluffy dog than the terror that was Memoryhead.

Frisk and Mettaton checked the room. Frisk started by looking under the beds and carefully moving things around, but Mettaton-getting bored again-chose to throw and go. He tore off the bedsheets and took little care with the items on the shelves. One fragile item began tipping slightly and Frisk leapt forward to stop it from falling to the ground. Mettaton, of course, didn't notice. Frisk put the item back carefully.

"If this room is as boring as the last I might have to consider killing you." Mettaton said.

'Boring?!' Frisk wrote angrily.

"One little fight won't keep viewers interested for long."

'Then I'll let you deal with the next thing we come across.' Frisk wrote. 'I'll just wait in the lobby, ready to be killed if there isn't anything interesting.'

"No no no, I need you here to assist me if anything goes wrong!" Mettaton said.

'Doesn't sound like you do.' Frisk smirked and turned around.

"Hey don't just-oh! I found another key!" Mettaton said as he pulled off another bedsheet. A small yellow key, similar to the one Frisk found, was laying on the bed. Frisk made a grab for it but Mettaton was closer.

"Now, if you want to get into the power room and fix the elevator then you'll stay with me and be a good assistant, yes?" Mettaton held the key aloft and out of Frisk's reach.

Frisk made a few jumps for the precious key, but quickly gave up the fight. Honestly they weren't going to leave Mettaton alone. He was so stupid he'd probably trip and die and then Frisk would be stuck down here on their own. Plus, while it killed Frisk to admit it, having Mettaton searching for the keys with them would make things easier. Two pairs of eyes, or-er, one pair of eyes and whatever visual aide Mettaton had, was better than one.

 _That saying doesn't sound quite right…_

Frisk nodded their assent and Mettaton happily put the key away where Frisk couldn't get to it.

Once they were sure no more keys were hidden anywhere in the room, Mettaton and Frisk moved forward into the next hallway. This time Mettaton chose to go right, to Frisk's displeasure.

Mettaton might not be terribly bothered by the large amount of swirling dust in the room, but Frisk was. They held their shirt over their face and tried very hard to not to breathe too much.

"Looks like another dud room." Mettaton said. He went further into the room while Frisk stayed near the entrance. Mettaton would have to drag them into the cloud of dusty doom if he wanted them to go further.

Mettaton continued complaining and Frisk continued ignoring him. They leaned against the wall, and jumped away in surprise when another panel lit up with green text.

 _How many of these things are there?_ Frisk shuffled closer and squinted at the text through the fog.

ENTRY NUMBER ELEVEN

 _Now that Mettaton's made it big, he never talks to me anymore…except to ask when I'm going to finish his body. But I'm afraid if I finish his body, he won't need me anymore. Then we'll never be friends ever again._

… _Not to mention, every time I try to work on it, I just get really sweaty…_

That was…really sad actually. Frisk breathed in to sigh and immediately regretted it. They coughed and backed out of the room to get a little bit of slightly fresher air.

Alphys sounded pretty lonely. She made it sound like Mettaton was one of her only friends, but surely she and Undyne were friends-right? Except…Alphys had some pretty bad confidence issues. She also admitted to hiding something pretty big, something that neither Mettaton nor Undyne knew about. Alphys felt pretty guilty over whatever she was hiding.

And Frisk could relate to that. Hiding a big secret, feeling guilty over it, while at the same time trying to do the best they could. At least Alphys was now showing someone what her secret was. Frisk didn't know if they could ever tell the monsters what they had done to them before.

 _No-not could. I CAN'T tell them what I did. They would hate me forever._

But was that such a bad thing? Frisk deserved to be hated. Still…Frisk felt severe pain in their heart just thinking about telling any of the monsters they had become friends with. Frisk could accept their first knee jerk reaction to mistrusting and hating humans. But imagining Sans, Papyrus, or even Undyne's reaction to telling them about their original run through the Underground…

Frisk took a shaky breath, closed their eyes, and tried to stabilize themselves.

 _I need to stop worrying about this. Stay DETERMINED._

Frisk breathed in and out. They calmed themselves and felt that small glimmer of determination that they clung to. Right now all they needed to worry about was the moment they were in. Frisk grounded themselves in that moment and held onto it tightly.

"AGH!" Mettaton shrieked.

Frisk's eyes flew open.

 _Mettaton makes a great distraction._ Frisk ran back into the room and was surprised to find the fans were on, blowing away the musty cloud. However there was another problem rearing its head at Mettaton.

 _Another one?_ Frisk looked at the creature, baffled. Similar to Memoryhead, this creature looked goopy and misshapen but that was where the similarities ended. The monster looked like a giant dog with a large black hole in place of where a face should be. Instead of feet Frisk could see smaller dog shapes that were easily skittering around within the white goop. The creature jumped up and down and the sound of several dogs barking slowly and deeply filled the room.

"RUN!" Mettaton shot at Frisk and grabbed them. Before Frisk could blink they were speeding the other way. The barking noise got a little faster and to Frisk's horror the creature started bounding after them. A strange liquid starting flecking out of the facial orifice.

Any thoughts of speaking with the monster went right out of Frisk's head at that moment. Mettaton's terror and flight response was contagious. Frisk just really _really_ wanted to get away from whatever this thing was and go back to looking at boring rooms.

Except the next room they entered was anything but boring. A large skull hung over a large black pit with enormous tubes coming out of it. Mettaton yelped and turned into the nearest entrance-which turned out to be a dead end. Frisk could only see a TV and a few tapes lying around. There was nothing they could hide behind.

Then, to their excitement, they saw the slot for the yellow key. Frisk moved to alert Mettaton to this, but the robot was already wheeling quickly out of the room.

 _We gotta go back!_ Frisk thumped Mettaton's side.

"I don't know what you want but we can't stop now!" Mettaton shouted back.

Frisk inhaled sharply, wanting to shout at Mettaton-when a strange scent caught their attention. Frisk wrinkled their nose and sniffed. Was that…lemon? What could smell like lemons down in the basement?

The answer to their question showed itself way too soon for Frisk's comfort. Before Mettaton could cross in front of the horrifying skull, an eerie laugh similar to Memoryhead's came from in front of them. Another one of those _things_ was suddenly standing in their path. Goopy and white, same as the others, but with large, shiny seed like black things protruding from its head.

Frisk watched as the black things morphed along its face to reveal themselves as teeth as two large eyes popped up on top of its face. The teeth contorted into an angry scowl and the creature opened its mouth to shriek-

"YOU MESSED UP MY BED!"

"Our bed…"

"SLEEP."

That was just enough to send Mettaton over the edge. With loud gasp, the robot's lights went out and Mettaton thudded to the floor, taking Frisk down with him. Frisk fell out of Mettaton's grip and went rolling. The reached out for anything they could grasp onto, but to Frisk's horror they felt the floor fall out from beneath them. Frisk only had a moment to gasp before they were falling into the pit.

* * *

Back to the black again. Frisk floated aimlessly, feeling less hopeless this time and more grumpy. Stupid Mettaton just had to drop down in a dramatic faint and get Frisk killed. Frisk was positive when Mettaton wouldn't have even cared, he would only be disappointed that he didn't get Frisk's death on film.

 _If I come back before he kidnaps me I am 100% digging a hole in front of Undyne's house for him to fall into,_ Frisk fumed.

"Back again?"

"Who-oh, it's you." This time Frisk heard Gaster before they saw him. Same as before, Gaster appeared as a small dot in the distance before Frisk moved slowly towards him.

"This is torturous." Frisk didn't like waiting around. Knowing Gaster was there made them want to run right towards him but as they had no power over their body in this space, Frisk was forced to wait.

"You could learn a little patience." Gaster said, amused.

Frisk had forgotten Gaster could read their mind. It wasn't pleasant knowing that he could do so, but Frisk admitted to themselves it was a relief being able to communicate so easily after they struggled with everyone else.

Frisk was now close enough to Gaster to see him cocking his head to the side in response to Frisk's thoughts. "If you truly wished it you could speak with them. You have done it before."

"I can't, it isn't as easy as you make it sound." Frisk didn't want to talk about this. If Gaster was just going to heckle them then they'd rather get going to whatever was next.

Frisk glared at Gaster, "I just can't speak properly, ok?"

"You were able to call for help when Undyne lay injured, and you apologized to Toriel before." Gaster pointed out.

"That was-those I can't explain." Frisk tried to look away from Gaster but couldn't. They had always been a quiet child. Frisk never liked talking to others very much, but whenever they did talk before their first run through the Underground Frisk's throat hadn't tightened up with fear. Frisk assumed it was some sort of punishment for murdering the monsters. Whether it was a curse or an effect of Frisk's own mind, Frisk didn't know nor did they care.

But when Frisk really felt like something needed to be said, like apologizing to Toriel or calling for help for Undyne, the words spilled out of their mouth easily.

"Yes…I see." Gaster murmured. "The other versions of yourself I have met most often suffer from permanent mutism or deafness. Your ability yet inability to speak conveys volumes about your past and your pains."

Frisk tried to ignore the stab of sympathy coming from Gaster. He could save it for another version of themselves or whatever he was talking about. Frisk was curious and confused when Gaster kept mentioning their other selves. They hadn't gotten the chance to ask him last time, but when offered the opportunity this time Frisk chose not to probe those questioning thoughts further. They were already dealing with enough right now, they didn't need to bring in clones of themselves or whatever Gaster was talking about.

"Anyways," Frisk tried to steer the conversation into safer territory, "what happens now? Am I dead for good or are you sending me back like before?"

"Oh, right. I assume you will be going back, but I am not the one who decides when and where you go back." Gaster was surprised by Frisk's question.

"Then who does?" Frisk demanded.

Gaster continued, "Of course I could assist you with your return. Perhaps bend things a little bit…but you need to get there first before I could do anything. As I said before, I am not able to predict others actions."

Frisk was about to repeat their question that Gaster ignored but before they could, Gaster began to fade and Frisk could feel themselves being pulled back. They could feel the warm glimmer of determination holding them onto a certain point. Frisk's body and soul felt frozen, but as long as they clung to the glimmer they felt as though they could keep going.

And then Frisk snapped back into their old present moment.

"AGH!" Mettaton shrieked. Frisk, mechanically following the same movements as before, ran back into the room to see the dog monster forming and Mettaton cowering in front of it.

"RUN!" Mettaton shot at Frisk and grabbed them.

 _Not again!_ Unlike last time, Frisk struggled in Mettaton's grip.

"What are you doing?" Mettaton shouted at them. Frisk continued to try to escape. If Mettaton fainted and dropped them down that hole again they were going to be _mad_.

Mettaton slowed down as he grappled with Frisk. Frisk got a whiff of the lemon scent and pushed back at Mettaton.

"You can't die now stupid!" Mettaton said.

 _I'm gonna die if you don't let me go!_

"YOU MESSED UP MY BED!"

"Our bed…"

"SLEEP."

Frisk's heart stopped as Mettaton shrieked and the other monster reared up in front of them. Once again Mettaton's lights flickered out as the robot fainted, and Frisk rolled out of his grasp.

 _No!_ Frisk reached out, desperately hoping they could catch the ledge this time. While it might be easier just to retry their escape with Mettaton, Frisk's body was reacting automatically to save itself.

The ground vanished beneath them and Frisk's fingers slipped off the edge-to be caught in a gooey and slobbering grip.

Frisk stared, open mouthed at the dog creature that held Frisk's hand in its weird mouth orifice. The dog's tail wagged excitedly and it quickly pulled Frisk up from the darkness. It let go of Frisk and proceeded to lick (or what Frisk assumed was licking for the monster, it was actually more like goo dribbling) Frisk's hair.

The lemon scented monster said, "That was bad."

"GOOD JOB ENDOGENY!"

"….."

Frisk looked up at Endogeny and hesitantly held out their hand. Endogeny got really closed and snuffled at Frisk's hand before nudging at it with its giant head.

Frisk patted the dog.

Endogeny fell down onto the ground and put its head in Frisk's lap for more pets. Shakily, Frisk continued petting the dog.

 _Ok. That was-This is…_ Frisk blinked hard to make sure they were actually awake.

 _Good dog I guess._


	13. Chapter 13

Frisk hesitantly put a popato chisp in their mouth and crunched down. They smiled at the assorted monsters in front of them and nodded their head, showing that Frisk was enjoying the snack.

The monsters relaxed and chattered happily among themselves. Frisk ate another chisp and looked wonderingly at the assortment of monsters standing before them.

Endogeny and Lemon Bread were the two monsters that had both killed and saved Frisk. After Endogeny saved them, Lemon Bread ushered Frisk backwards towards the room with all of the beds. Endogeny was disappointed it stopped receiving pets, but picked up Mettaton when Lemon Bread ordered it to. All together they walked back to the sleeping quarters where Lemon Bread angrily pointed at the beds.

Frisk, feeling slightly embarrassed now, quietly went from bed to bed and remade them. They hadn't actually thought anyone was sleeping in these beds, otherwise Frisk would have taken more care in their search for the keys.

After they were finished, Lemon Bread was much calmer. Ignoring Endogeny, who was slobbering all over the still immobile Mettaton, Lemon Bread looked at Frisk and said-

"Going to go fetch the others."

"GOTTA FIND EVERYONE!"

"….."

With those words Lemon Bread slunk from the room leaving Frisk alone with Endogeny. Endogeny nosed at Mettaton, and finding him suddenly uninteresting the dog trotted over to Frisk and laid down beside them. Frisk absentmindedly petted the dog while gazing at the direction Lemon Bread left.

Petting Endogeny was the only thing Frisk could muster up the energy to do while they waited for Lemon Bread's return. They considered running away but didn't see the point of it. Endogeny, while adorable when it was being pet, was most likely there to guard Frisk. Plus Lemon Bread mentioned finding the 'others' which meant there were more monsters like them running around the basement. Frisk barely survived their battle with Memoryhead, and actually died when confront by Endogeny and Lemon Bread. Frisk was doubtful they could deal with any more of these strange monsters.

After some time had passed, Lemon Bread finally came back with two other monsters behind her. Frisk now knew them to be Snowdrake's Mother and Reaper Bird. But Frisk's first impression was a heavily melted Snowdrake and a long legged bird with huge eyes and a painfully sharp looking beak.

"Found them."

"All except for Memoryhead!"

"..."

Lemon Bread said as she entered the room.

Reaper Bird stepped closer to Frisk and stared at them intensely. Frisk shrunk back and stopped petting Endogeny. Endogeny whined and shifted around unhappily.

Reaper Bird opened its beak and spoke. "-!"

Frisk tried to make sense of the rush of words that Reaper Bird said. It was as if several people were talking at once and nearly impossible to make out anything coherent except for a small handful of words.

"They've just met you, they won't understand."

"Chill out Reaper Bird."

"Garbled…"

Frisk, catching the name Reaper Bird, wrote down a question for Lemon Bread. 'You all have names?'

Lemon Bread's eyes all narrowed and Frisk held their breath, wondering if they had done something wrong.

"Can't read this. Snowy?"

"I don't understand. Reaper Bird?"

"…"

Snowdrake's Mother and Reaper Bird got closer to look at what Frisk had written down.

"-" Reaper Bird said.

"Whimsalot…read…asks…na…mes." Snowdrake's Mother said slowly.

"Many names," Lemon Bread started, "Shyren, Moldbygg, Astigmatism-"

"Whimsalot, Snowy, Aaron."

"….." Lemon bread stopped rattling off names and paused.

"Easier to tell whole names."

"Our one name."

"Easier."

"Lemon Bread." Lemon Bread pointed at herself. "Endogeny, Snowdrake's Mother, and Reaper Bird." Lemon Bread introduced everyone to Frisk.

'Thank you.' Frisk wrote. They thought about it for a second before adding, 'It's nice to meet you.' Their response went down the channels of speech again before everyone understood. Everyone appeared delighted with Frisk's response and before Frisk knew it they were being treated like an honored guest.

Their ability to communicate was awkward but all the monsters seemed keen on treating Frisk warmly. Even Lemon Bread appeared to forgive Frisk for messing up their bed and fetched Frisk a bag of popato chisps while Snowdrake's Mother insisted Frisk sit comfortably on her bed.

Which brings Frisk back to the present of having all the monsters eager for Frisk to enjoy the popato chisps. Frisk took another chisp and popped it into their mouth. Frisk dumped a few out in their hand and offered some chisps to the monsters surrounding them.

Reaper Bird patted Frisk's head, took one chisp and said "-!"

"Thank you." Lemon Bread gave Frisk a toothy smile and took some chisps. Endogeny lifted its head to sniff at the chisps but only huffed and chose to ignore them. Snowdrake's Mother shook her head but offered Frisk another pillow to place beside them.

Slowly Frisk began to relax around the basement monsters. Frisk ate in silence and was content to watch the monsters interacting with each other. Snowdrake's Mother, once done with handing Frisk numerous pillows, started tidying up around the room. She even left one pillow for Mettaton, placing it gently underneath the robot who was left lying on the floor. Reaper Bird and Lemon Bread were having a conversation Frisk couldn't follow. Endogeny was quickly becoming one of Frisk's favorites as it loved being pet and was delighted when Frisk began to play a game of fetch with the soon crumpled up bag of popato chisps.

 _They're just like the rest of the monsters; scary at first but when you get to know them they aren't dangerous at all._ Frisk threw the popato chisp bag again for Endogeny. Even though it couldn't fly very far, Endogeny seemed excited to play with it anyways.

 _I wonder why they're down here_ … _and what Lemon Bread meant by all those names she listed off_. Frisk was familiar with a few of the names but didn't recognize others. They didn't understand what Lemon Bread meant when she said whole names.

Were these monsters part of Alphys' big secret? The basement monsters were unnerving, but Frisk thought every monster was a little scary when they first met the monsters. Frisk thought the monsters who wandered the Underground would be fine with these basement monsters. But…Mettaton had reacted poorly to them so maybe that wasn't the case.

 _Doo-doo-doo!_

Frisk stopped playing with Endogeny and looked down at the source of the sudden noise. Mettaton's phone was ringing. Curious to see who it was, Frisk opened the phone. It was a text from…a bunch of 1's and 0's in place of a name. But the text was readable and it said 'You joined the fun!'

"Mem…back…" Snowdrake's Mother pointed over Frisk's shoulder. Looking around, Frisk saw Memoryhead floating behind them. Frisk gripped the covers of the bed between their hand in an attempt not to jump back at Memoryhead's sudden appearance.

Memoryhead cooed out a soft dial-up noise and the words 'Sorry I'm late!' popped up on the cellphone. Frisk, out of habit, was about to turn the cellphone around for the other monsters to see. But before they could do that, the monsters (understanding Memoryhead's odd form of speech) chattered back at it. Frisk flipped the phone shut and started putting it away in their pocket when they smacked themselves on the forehead for being so stupid.

Mettaton's phone. Why hadn't he or Frisk tried calling for help?

Because they were stupid. That's why.

(However, Frisk would claim insistently Mettaton was dumber than they were.)

Frisk took a look through Mettaton's contacts. There was Alphys, and Burgerpants, annnnd that was it. Two people in Mettaton's contact list. Frisk was confused. Wasn't Mettaton supposed to be some big star? He should have hundreds of people calling and texting him if he was famous.

Well as long as one of them picked up, Frisk supposed it didn't matter. They sent out a text to both Alphys and Burgerpants, briefly describing the situation and asking for help. On a second thought, Frisk gave Alphys a call. Even if they couldn't speak to her it would be nice to know they could at least contact her.

The phone rang and rang, but Alphys didn't pick up. Frisk tried not to worry and called Burgerpants.

The same thing happened. Frisk was sent to voicemail and they sighed and dropped the phone.

Frisk was disappointed. What started out as a promising lead was in fact just a dead end.

'Stuck?' A new text message popped up on Mettaton's phone. Frisk felt their spirits right for a moment only to fall when they saw the message was from Memoryhead.

'Stuck in basement?' Memoryhead asked in another text.

'It's rude to read others messages.' Frisk typed back, slightly irritable.

'Not stuck. Can leave through elevator.' Memoryhead responded.

'Elevator broken. Have to find keys.' Frisk wrote.

'Keys?'

Frisk was about to explain what the keys were but Memoryhead suddenly got very excited. Numerous messages began popping up on the cellphone and Memoryhead started chattering to the other monsters. Frisk tried to catch up with the conversation.

'Keys!'

'Colorful keys!'

'Like to hide them!'

'I was going to win!'

'Met you.'

'Still had fun!'

'Made new friend.'

'Keys!'

'Favorite game to play.'

'Alphys doesn't like it.'

'We can still play game!'

They hid the keys as a game? Well, it certainly made sense why the keys they found were in odd places. Still, Frisk really wasn't fond of playing more of 'Find the Key.'

'I really need the keys. We need to leave the basement.' Frisk texted Memoryhead. Memoryhead stopped talking and looked at Frisk. It let out a sad noise and laid itself out on one of the beds. Confused at Memoryhead's sudden sulk, Frisk turned the phone around to show the others the message.

Reaper Bird made a similar sad sound and, Frisk hoped, translated the text for the other monsters. They all visibly wilted and Lemon Bread shook her disfigured head.

"Can't leave."

"Can't go home."

"Not healed." Lemon Bread said.

Frisk's heart skipped a beat and they felt an icy chill run down their spine. What did Lemon Bread mean by they couldn't leave? Surely they weren't actually _stuck_ down here. Even if they couldn't get the elevator working Alphys would come looking for them, right? Or was there a more threatening undertone to Lemon Bread's words? Did the monsters intend to keep Frisk and Mettaton trapped in the basement?

'Keys can get elevator working. We can all leave.' Frisk wrote insistently, hoping their inner questions were just silly worries.

"Alphys says we can't leave."

"Can't go home."

"We aren't well…" Lemon Bread moaned. Endogeny gave a mournful howl that Reaper Bird echoed.

Alphys said they couldn't leave? Why was she keeping these monsters in the basement? They didn't look sick to Frisk. _I mean, they look really weird even compared to the other monsters I've seen, but I'm no monsters expert._

Besides, it wasn't like they had to come with Frisk and Mettaton. The monsters could stay down in the basement. Frisk just _really_ needed those keys.

'Please. I have something I need to do. I need the keys.' Frisk begged. Their hands were shaking which made typing on the phone a little difficult.

'New friend wants to leave?' Memoryhead rejoined the conversation with a short text sent to Frisk.

Frisk's heart jolted. These monsters had no reason to be kind to Frisk. And yet Endogeny saved their life and the rest seemed eager to be friendly. Frisk _wanted_ to stay and learn more about them. Frisk didn't want to rush off and leave them in a laboratory basement. The basement wasn't exactly terrible, but it couldn't be a pleasant place to live in. They deserved more room to roam about and play.

It was what all the monsters in the Underground deserved. Whatever sent them here and whatever kept them here…it was wrong.

'Yes. I'm sorry.' Frisk couldn't help but add the apology to their text.

There was a little bit more chatter from the monsters. Endogeny sighed sadly and laid its head down next to Frisk on the bed. Frisk petted its head while waiting for a response from the others.

"Not fair to keep you here…"

"We'll help you."

"….." Lemon Bread spoke up for the monsters.

Frisk relaxed. In relief, they closed their heads and placed their cheek against Endogeny's head. They could feel the dog's tail thumping on the floor. It was a calming sound.

'Thank you.' Frisk mouthed.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **To this day Burgerpants has no clue why Mettaton left him a fourty five minute voicemail that is almost completely silent except for creepy muffled voices in the background**


	14. Chapter 14

From what Frisk could glean from the monsters, Memoryhead had hidden the red key and Reaper Bird had hidden the yellow key. Both were quite put out that Frisk and Mettaton managed to find their keys so easily. The rest of the monsters were more amused, except for Lemon Bread who started hissing at Reaper Bird for hiding the key on their bed.

'So that means Endogeny was in charge of the green key and Snowdrake's mother hid the blue key?' Frisk wrote to Memoryhead. It nodded and chattered while texts popped up on the cellphone.

'I won last game'

'Never told anyone hiding spot'

'Shouldn't have used same spot this time' Memoryhead glared at Frisk but also gave them a stretchy smile. Frisk hoped it mean Memoryhead wasn't actually mad at them for discovering their favorite hiding spot.

Frisk was hopeful this would be easy. They had two keys, and Snowdrake's Mother was waddling off to go get her key. Soon Mettaton and Frisk could leave the laboratory and then Frisk would be on their way! Easy peasey lemon squeasy.

Frisk needed to stop believing anything could be easy.

"Fetch key!"

"Where is it?"

"…." Lemon Bread poked at Endogeny who was happily curled up near Frisk's side. Its ears perked up and some goo bubbled out of the hole in its head, but Endogeny remained in its place.

'Dumb dogs.' Memoryhead commented to Frisk. It drifted closer to Endogeny and released a series of screeched dial tone sounds. Frisk resisted the urge to clap their hands over their ears.

Endogeny cocked its head and salivated more. All of Memoryhead's eyes rolled.

"Too many minds in body."

"Surprised it can do anything at all!" Lemon Bread grumped. Reaper Bird came closer in an attempt to help but Lemon Bread, still angry at the other monster, hissed for it to stay away. Lemon Bread swatted at Endogeny angrily.

"-?" Reaper Bird said something that made the other stop. Lemon Bread huffed and turned her back on Reaper Bird, but Memoryhead seemed to be considering something.

'Reaper Bird suggested we look for key ourselves.' Frisk glanced down to read the text. 'Endogeny doesn't seem interested in playing right now.'

Frisk wanted to groan. The secret area of the laboratory was like a maze filled with hidey holes. That they had found two keys without the help of the monsters who had hidden them seemed like a miracle. How long would it take for them to find the key Endogeny hid?

Frisk shivered as a long white tail draped over their shoulder in an attempt at a comforting gesture; it was cold and sticky.

'Endogeny is worst hider. We will find key in no time.' Memoryhead texted.

"We'll check fan room." Lemon bread spoke up.

"Endogeny likes there." Lemon Bread made a move to leave but stopped and scowled at Reaper Bird. "Don't mess up bed while gone."

"-!" Reaper Bird protested. Lemon Bread's eyes all rolled in annoyance and she swept from the room, ignoring Reaper Bird's words.

Memoryhead floated over to Reaper Bird and said something. Reaper Bird cocked its head at an impossible angle, nodded, and screeched out a reply.

'We go check book room.' Memoryhead told Frisk. Frisk nodded their assent and waved them off. Memoryhead and Reaper Bird left together, leaving only Frisk, Endogeny, and Mettaton's prone form in the room.

After the hustle and bustle of the monsters, Frisk was feeling tense and drained. Communicating with them was a little easier because of the phone, but it was still a pain. They couldn't understand most of the monsters when they spoke and only Memoryhead and Reaper Bird seemed to understand how to read.

Also, while Frisk was gradually getting used to them- _The monsters here are pretty unnerving,_ Frisk thought. The way their bodies moved looked unnatural. Frisk had been watching them closely and when the monsters weren't focused on doing something, they twitched and shuffled around a lot like they couldn't decide where to go.

Endogeny moved from Frisk's side and started snuffling around the room. Frisk watched it blankly, trying to figure the monster out.

They watched Endogeny closely for a minute. Now that they weren't completely terrified of the creature, Frisk could see a lot they hadn't noticed before. Endogeny moved a lot less smoothly than the other monsters. It was constantly twitching back and forth between things. Frisk wanted to chalk that up to it being dog like and always distracted by sights and smells, but that didn't feel quite right.

There was also something strange about Endogeny's body shape; stranger than the others, at least to Frisk's mind. There was the white mass of goo that took up most of Endogeny's body, but there were also small dark shapes near the ground. At first Frisk assume it was just blank space but after watching Endogeny move around Frisk could see the dark shapes moving just slightly independently from the larger mass.

Frisk squinted and looked closer. They were shaped like… _cats maybe? No, not cats. Dogs._

Frisk jumped off the bed and got closer to Endogeny. Endogeny stopped what it was doing and happily allowed Frisk to come up to it. Frisk patted it and stared hard at the nearest dark mass on Endogeny's side. The more they stared the more Frisk was positive they could make out two white dots in the center of the top of the darkness.

Without thinking Frisk reached out to touch it. Endogeny stilled.

As Frisk touched the darkness it wriggled under their fingers. Frisk gasped and withdrew their hand. The white dots grew a little bigger and blinked.

Suddenly Endogeny was shuffling and running around in a circle. Frisk's hands clenched as Endogeny and each black space rubbed up against them.

What was it Memoryhead had said? Dumb dogs. Plural.

 _There are smaller dogs in Endogeny._ Frisk felt lightheaded. _Endogeny is made up of multiple dog monsters_. Frisk pushed back against Endogeny who was trying to smother them in affection. They stumbled over to the bed and braced themselves against it. _What's going on?_

Unbidden Frisk's mind flashed back to the entry they read when they first entered the lab.

ENTRY NUMBER 5

 _I've done it. Using the blueprints, I've extracted it from the human souls. I believe this is what gives their souls the strength to persist after death. The will to keep living…The resolve to change fate. Let's call this power…_

 _DETERMINATION_

…What exactly was Alphys doing down here?

 _I've got to go back and read those entries,_ Frisk thought hazily. _I have to know what's going on._

* * *

The entries were all numbered so it was easy for Frisk to read them in order even though they were all spread out. Frisk didn't see any of the monsters during their walk but as they read further into Alphys' journal entries…well, locating the monsters became the last thing on Frisk's mind.

Frisk didn't make it back to the bedroom. The kind of just collapsed against the nearest wall available after reading Entry 19. There were likely more entries but Frisk couldn't take any more information.

Alphys had taken Determination from human souls; most likely from the other souls that had fallen down into the Underground before Frisk. Frisk usually tried not to think about them, who they were and how they felt falling into the Underground.

Then Alphys continued injecting Determination dead monsters and somehow she was able to bring them back to life. Alphys never wrote about what happened to the monsters but from the horrified 'no No NO NO NO NO' she wrote and Frisk's knowledge of the monsters currently living in the basement, Frisk could take a good guess at what happened.

Many names, Lemon Bread had said, Shyren, Moldbygg, Astigmatism, Whimsalot, Snowy, Aaron. Endogeny was made up of multiple dogs. Snowdrake's Mother said Whimsalot could read but only Reaper Bird had spoken. Memoryhead mentioning Endogeny had trouble because there were too many minds in one body.

All the individual monsters had morphed together into five single bodies.

And the flower.

Frisk's breath was trapped in their lungs. Alphys mentioned a flower being injected with Determination. A flower she took from Asgore's garden. She said it disappeared and never mentioned it after that. Could she have…?

Frisk remembered the field of golden flowers in the throne room, and Frisk remembered the cheery smile of a single golden flower.

Frisk closed their eyes and clapped their hands over their ears. The information was swirling around in their head and it was so much. They were feeling overstimulated. Even the smallest of sounds made them twitch with anxiety.

It was no wonder the monsters in the lab wouldn't (couldn't?) leave. Alphys wouldn't encourage it because everyone would know how badly she failed; she was scared. And the monsters…Frisk could only imagine their confusion and fear of sharing one body with multiple minds and personalities. Even after they got used to it, what would their families think? Would they be scared, possibly even sickened to see what their loved ones had become? Would they possibly even reject them? Frisk really hoped not but they weren't the best person to talk about true love among family members.

Alphys was partially right. Frisk was horrified by what she had done. But Frisk felt worse knowing that it was humans that had driven them to this. Alphys and Asgore were only trying to save their people. Frisk was repelled by the actions they took to free the monsters, except-in the end, hadn't Frisk done similar things to free themselves from the Underground?

Even though Frisk knew what happened to the monsters in Alphys' lab wasn't their fault, they still felt guilty. They could feel the weight of the actions of humans from long ago weighing down upon their soul.

Frisk took deep breaths and tried to calm down. _I'm not doing anyone any good by sitting here and freaking out_ , Frisk told themselves. They continued to repeat this over and over. Frisk took breaths of musty air and focused on the feeling of their lungs filling and emptying; their heartbeat slowing but still going steady in a calming rhythm.

Frisk hesitantly took their hands off their ears, but their eyes remained clamped shut. Frisk curled up and held their hands close to their chest.

 _My heart feels so heavy_ , Frisk thought dully.

 _Ring ring! Ring ring!_ Frisk jerked at the sound of Mettaton's phone going off. They cracked their eyes open and pulled out the phone. Flipping it open, Frisk was prepared to see a text but they weren't ready for a loud screeching noise to come out.

 _Must be Memoryhead_ , Frisk sighed and ended the call. They took another look at the phone and noticed a few unread messages. The monsters were trying to contact Frisk. _I hope I didn't worry them_ , Frisk frowned and tapped out a quick reply that they were on their way back to the bedroom.

* * *

Frisk tried preparing themselves mentally to see the monsters again. All the way back they walked slowly, stretching out the time until they saw them again. Despite all of this, when Frisk entered the bedroom and saw all of the monsters hanging around, they felt their heart clench.

Endogeny was already waiting by the entrance for Frisk, probably looking for pets, but Frisk couldn't bring themselves to touch the dog. The rest of the monsters noticed Frisk's entrance and rushed over to the human. Frisk attempted a smile.

Snowdrake's Mother gestured for Frisk's hand, dropping a blue key into it. Frisk nodded at her in thanks but couldn't meet her eyes. Not noticing Frisk's nervousness, Snowdrake's mother moved backwards and let the others take over.

"Memoryhead is mad at Endogeny," Lemon Bread snickered.

"Took forever to find key."

"Endogeny stole Memoryhead's idea." Lemon Bread said.

Frisk looked questioningly at Memoryhead who was indeed sulking. It let out a sound that sounded like a huff and then screeched out something, its eyes narrowing angrily at Endogeny.

"Bathtub drain," Lemon Bread explained to Frisk, handing over the green key.

"That should be all of them," Lemon Bread said. Frisk nodded their thanks.

'You guys can wait here while I unlock the door.' Frisk texted Memoryhead. They waited for Memoryhead to pass on their words, and all the monsters acknowledged them. Frisk felt a twinge of relief; they were worried the monsters would insist on accompanying them.

Luckily Frisk now knew where all of the keyholes were after their _enlightening_ journey around the lab. It took them no time at all to walk around and places the keys in their proper place. After they were done, Frisk jogged back to the bedroom, eager to escape the lab. It was quickly becoming suffocating; all the secrets down here were putting Frisk on edge.

Frisk entered the bedroom, expecting to see all the monsters waiting for them. To Frisk's shock, nobody was there. Even Mettaton's prone form was gone. Frisk checked the phone, expecting to see a text explaining where everyone was, but there was nothing in the inbox. They took a quick peek under the beds, half expecting the monsters to pop out and shout "Boo!"

Frisk ran from the room, looking around frantically. They weren't positive, but Frisk suspected the monsters were probably at the door that needed the keys to open. If they weren't, Frisk had no idea where else they might be. The monsters already proved adept at hiding, if they were playing some sick game of hide-and-seek with Frisk, Frisk was positive the monsters would win easily.

Frisk nearly ran into a wall as they throttled down the hallway. They skidded to a stop and stepped into the room with the door and the vending machines. There were no monsters standing around, but the door was now open.

Frisk stepped inside, expecting to see another hallway or room like the others in the lab, but to their surprise they entered another elevator. Frisk stopped and looked around, confused.

 _What the-?_ Frisk saw another exit leading away from the way they came. _This place has such a weird design_.

Frisk took the other exit and found themselves in a mostly empty room with a large power box at the very end. However these things were unimportant to Frisk, as the first thing they saw entering the room was a big white mass of monsters waiting at the end of the room in a half circle around something.

Hearing Frisk's footsteps, the monsters turned and all greeted Frisk with loud noises.

"Stop it! What do you want?" Came a terrified and familiar cry. Frisk blinked in recognition and slowly approached the monsters who parted so Frisk could see what they had been looking at before they arrived.

Apparently Mettaton had woken up in the few minutes Frisk had been gone.

"Human! Help me! These creatures are going to eat me!" Mettaton cried.

Frisk snorted and rolled their eyes. They were pretty sure metal wasn't on the monsters' diet. Although…besides the dog food Frisk didn't know what they ate. It was possible Memoryhead or one of the others might get a hankering for Mettaton a la…popato chisps? If the monsters in the lab had weird tastes like that, maybe they would enjoy Papyrus' pasta.

No, that was too weird. Frisk needed to stop thinking about food and focus.

Mettaton gasped, "You're on their side? They've turned you against me in the," Mettaton paused and his lights flashed, "two hours I've been knocked out?"

Frisk cocked their head to the side and folded their arms, giving Mettaton an unamused look. Did he really think Frisk would let them eat him?

 _It's tempting though_.

"Well if you aren't going to help me, I guess it's time I reveal my secret weapon! My true form! Mettaton NEO activate!" Mettaton held up his hand in the air.

Frisk had a split second to think about how much Mew Mew Kissy Cutie Mettaton must have watched to imitate that move before a blinding white light erupted from the robot. Frisk flinched and brought up their hands to shield their eyes. Based off the surprised cries from the other monsters, Frisk wasn't the only one incapacitated by Mettaton.

Once the flash of light was gone, Frisk lowered their hands and blinked away the spots in their vision. Once they could see again, Frisk sort of wished they couldn't.

Standing before them was the same Mettaton form that Frisk had run into before. He was a frightening image, standing tall on two legs looking rather human like. Mettaton NEO had two large glowing wings attached to his back and, in Frisk's opinion, rather impressive high heeled boots.

He was also possibly the weakest monster Frisk fought. During Frisk's first time through the Underground, Mettaton NEO had looked frightening, but with only one swift attack, Mettaton NEO had gone down like a sack of bricks.

Frisk looked at Mettaton, unimpressed. The other monsters seemed confused and huddled behind Frisk, murmuring in their strange languages.

"That's right! Be afraid! In this form, nothing can hurt me! And it'll make a fantastic ending to my documentary! It looks like I can kill you after all!" Mettaton said to Frisk.

Ok. Frisk was definitely pausing their 'do no harm' rule and kicking Mettaton in the shins. A good swift kick. It wouldn't kill him, just incapacitate him.

But then, just as Frisk was tensed and ready, a white see-through object popped out of the ceiling behind Mettaton. It swiveled and stared at the scene before it.

"Oh no…I'm interrupting you again. I'm sorry." Napstablook sniffled and floated forward. "I-I wouldn't bother you but then Alphys would be upset at me and she's already really distressed. But now I'm sure you're upset at me…"


	15. Chapter 15

Everyone stood stock still, watching the sad ghost hover above them all. Napstablook looked forlornly at them and floated around uncertainly as he took in the scene. His eyes landed upon Mettaton, whose back was now turned to Frisk. Frisk couldn't see Mettaton's expression but they could see the odd, small quivers going through Mettaton's body.

Napstablook's cheeks suddenly became a light shade of blue. Frisk didn't understand why until Napstablook said, "Oh…hi…Mettaton." Napstablook's cheeks became a little bit bluer and Frisk realized, with a small amount of amusement, that Napstablook was _blushing_.

"B-Bl-" Mettaton's voice came out quiet and unsure.

"Oh…no. I've interrupted you and now you're upset…I'm sorry." Napstablook moved back. "It's just, I'm a big fan…but that's not why I'm here…" Napstablook turned his face away but Frisk could still see the tears forming around his eyes. "I'm sorry." Napstablook said miserably.

"NO!" Mettaton shouted, waving his arms.

Napstablook jerked back and started to go transparent.

"WAIT! No, I'm sorry! That's not-come back!" Mettaton said. Napstablook stopped, but remained slightly more transparent than usual.

"Blo-I mean, you said you were a fan right! It's always great to talk to my fans!" Mettaton said in a happy tone, his voice shaking. "I would love to talk to you!"

"Oh…thank you. That's so kind. You're so nice…" Napstablook lowered himself to the ground and solidified.

"So which show of mine is your favorite?" Mettaton asked in a chirpy voice.

Frisk could literally feel the tension that had been in the room wither away and die. They looked around, curious to see what the other monsters were doing. They were all watching Napstablook and Mettaton, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Mettaton had been trying to kill them not a minute ago.

"Well…I love all of them. My life is so boring…and they bring excitement to it…" Napstablook gave Mettaton a small, hesitant smile.

 _Since Mettaton's distracted, maybe I should get the others out of here._ Frisk didn't want Mettaton spooking the other monsters and sending them into a rampage again. Frisk walked forward carefully, reaching out to gesture for the monsters to get moving.

"Don't think I'm not still keeping my eyes on you while I talk to this delightful fan, darling~!" Mettaton turned around and aimed one of his weaponized hands at Frisk. "I will be taking you and these creatures down!"

 _That's doubtful,_ Frisk thought. Chances were better that Mettaton would be the one taken down.

Napstablook cocked his head to the side to see around Mettaton. When he saw Frisk, Napstablook's mouth began to tremble and tears gathered in his eyes once again.

"I forgot…oh no…Alphys is going to be so upset." Napstablook said.

"Alphys?" Mettaton turned back to Napstablook.

"She's upstairs, getting the elevator to work. She asked me to come down here and check to see if everyone was okay." Napstablook sniffled, "And I forgot…I was so excited to meet Mettaton…" Napstablook started fading again and this time both Frisk and Mettaton lunged to stop him.

 _Alphys is here? She's going to get us out?!_ Frisk waved their arms frantically in front of Napstablook, trying to communicate their thoughts without words.

"No!" Mettaton said desperately. He reached out as if to grab Napstablook, and shrank back when his hands passed through the ghost.

Their frantic gestures did make Napstablook pause. He glanced over at Mettaton nervously, and then came a little closer to Frisk.

"I'm sorry…" Napstablook said miserably to Frisk. "I keep messing up."

Frisk gently patted the air around Napstablook's head and smiled comfortingly; Napstablook sighed.

"Alphys…said there were some monsters down here that might get upset if you messed around with their stuff…or if they haven't eaten recently…She was very upset and kept saying she hadn't been thinking straight and should never have given you the key. She seemed very sorry," Napstablook said. He looked over Frisk's shoulder at the assorted gathering of odd monsters. "She told me to check on everyone…and if I saw you, to tell you to not do anything dangerous."

 _Too late for that_ , Frisk thought.

Mettaton was watching Frisk and Napstablook with an odd expression on his face.

The lights suddenly flickered, and Frisk blinked as they came back on. Frisk hadn't realized how used to the dim lighting they were until the new glow made their eyes hurt. They rubbed at their eyes and blinked rapidly to adjust.

"Oh…I guess Alphys got the electricity back on. That was quick." Napstablook observed.

 _Well, she didn't have to play hunt for the keys_ , Frisk thought slightly grumpily. If Mettaton hadn't stopped them, Frisk could have gotten the electricity back on first.

Mettaton sighed, "If Alphys got the electricity back on that means she's on her way down." He huffed angrily. "And that means the tension- the drama of the scene is completely ruined! The betrayal scene where the hero finally shines and defeats the evil human would have been a hit!" Mettaton wailed.

"I am so sorry! Is that what you were doing? I ruined the big scene? Oh, it's all my fault!" Napstablook cried.

Frisk didn't understand the relationship between Napstablook and Mettaton. As soon as Napstablook got upset, Mettaton forgot about his own whining and tried to comfort the ghost. Compared to how he acted around everyone else, Mettaton was rather gentle with Napstablook. But, at certain points, he seemed very hesitant around Napstablook. Frisk didn't remember seeing them interact at all before, so whatever was making Mettaton act so weird was a complete mystery to them..

Frisk left Mettaton and Napstablook alone. It didn't appear as though Mettaton would continue his attack, so Frisk went to check on the rest of the monsters.

They were all huddled together. They didn't seem scared, but they were shifting about nervously- keeping a close eye on Mettaton. Frisk wasn't sure how much of the proceedings they understood, but they were smart enough to be wary of the monster who pushed weapons in front of their faces while shouting.

'Are u alright?' Frisk quickly texted.

'We're fine,' Memoryhead answered for everyone. While the rest of the monsters crowded around Frisk, Lemon Bread remained where she was, staring hard at Mettaton and Napstablook.

'What's Lemon Bread doing?' Frisk asked Memoryhead. They waited impatiently as Memoryhead asked Lemon Bread the question.

"Familiar," Lemon Bread said thoughtfully.

"The robot's personality…"

"Their soul…we remember it." Lemon Bread said.

'I don't understand,' Frisk said. Memoryhead relayed thatto Lemon Bread, who nodded her head thoughtfully.

"It was long ago. Our sister-"

"Not our sister. Your sister."

"I only knew them in passing." Lemon Bread blurted each sentence out, one after the other. She shook, and all of her eyes began blinking crazily as she gnashed her teeth and started muttering under her breath. Frisk stood back, unable to hear but also unwilling to draw closer to Lemon Bread.

A ping sounded off the phone and Frisk looked down to see what Memoryhead had texted them. 'Give her time. Very confusing when memories combine and separate. Difficult to exist within one body.'

Frisk nodded at Memoryhead to show they understood. Frisk couldn't imagine living with multiple people inside their head; they already struggled with their own thoughts and feelings. If they had someone else constantly with them, arguing about what choices to make and where to move… _I think I'd go psycho crazy._

"Our sister…"

"The singing sisters…"

"Two ghosts living side by side…" Lemon Bread spoke louder but her words were still coming out so quickly Frisk needed to focus on exactly what she was saying.

Lemon Bread paused, opened her mouth wide-spreading all of her pointed teeth-and took a deep breath. Her eyes all suddenly focused on Memoryhead and Frisk.

"Two ghosts…cousins. Shyren would often have singing lessons with them."

"One ghost, the loud one, left…"

"Never saw him again before…this." Lemon Bread gestured down at her body with one hand. "But we know- different body doesn't mean different soul." Lemon Bread placed a hand over where her heart would be beating if she was a regular monster.

"Body different. Soul…soul is same." Lemon Bread repeated before falling silent.

 _Oh boy,_ Frisk smacked a hand to their forehead. _Is she telling me Mettaton and Napstablook are related? Really?! And Mettaton is a ghost too?_

'Does Napstablook know?' Frisk asked Memoryhead, however they were already sure they knew the answer. When the question was relayed, Lemon Bread simply shrugged her shoulders in reply.

 _He probably doesn't_ , Frisk sighed and continued to watch Napstablook and Mettaton interact. Mettaton seemed eager to talk to Napstablook, but Naptstablook was acting as if he was meeting an unattainable idol rather than his cousin. There was nothing in Frisk's memories to help them here, so they were flying blind in this situation, but Mettaton was acting pretty suspicious to Frisk. If Napstablook didn't know Mettaton was his cousin, and Mettaton wasn't falling over himself to tell Napstablook, why was Mettaton hiding his true self?

'This is so much more fun than hiding things!' Memoryhead gleefully texted Frisk.

"-!" Reaper Bird crowed.

 _I seriously wish I could understand what they're saying_ , Frisk thought. The rest of the monsters were talking to each other - Frisk could only assume it was about Mettaton and Napstablook - and any nervousness that remained quickly faded away as they all focused their attentions on the two cousins. Apparently this was quality grade soap opera action for monsters who spent all their time living in a basement.

 _Alphys, please get here soon,_ Frisk thought desperately.

* * *

To Frisk's relief, Alphys did arrive quickly after that. She was huffing and puffing, her face slightly flushed with the exertion of running. She took one look at the scene in front of her and promptly freaked out.

"Oh my gosh! What is going on here! Is everyone okay? Mettaton, I told you your battle form wasn't combat ready yet! No-wait, why are you even in combat form?" Alphys danced on her feet, struggling in her indecision of moving towards the group of monsters or Mettaton.

Napstablook let out a soft gasp, "Oh no…I forgot to report back to you…I'm so sorry…" He bowed his head and sniffled, "You must hate me now."

"Oh puh-leaze darling! With me here, how could you not forget! It's not _your_ fault." Mettaton said.

Alphys opened her mouth to say something in response, but then shook her head tiredly and walked over to Frisk and the other monsters.

"Are you alright, Frisk?" she asked quietly. Frisk nodded and some of the tension in Alphys' shoulders relaxed.

"T-That's good…" Alphys bit her lip and looked around at the monsters surrounding Frisk. "I'm-" Alphys hesitated and looked down at the ground. "I-I'm sorry Frisk. You must be so confused o-o-or disgusted and I want you to know I-I wasn't thinking before and should never have opened my big mouth." Alphys' shoulders hunched and she looked as if she was trying to curl into herself.

Frisk watched her and felt a stab of sympathy. But Frisk wasn't sure how to respond to Alphys. They were still reeling from everything they had learned in her laboratory basement. So Frisk remained silent and still, watching Alphys to see what she would do next.

"You're probably wondering what this all is, and I g-guess I owe you an explanation." Alphys said. Still not meeting Frisk's gaze, she went on to describe all of the events that occurred in the basement, or as Alphys called it- her True Lab. Frisk already knew everything from the journal entries Alphys had left behind, but they allowed Alphys to tell the story. It would allow Mettaton and Napstablook to understand everything, and it felt like something Alphys needed to do – to come clean about it all.

As she wrapped up her story, Alphys confessed, "When I saw Undyne hurt, that was the first time since – since everything happened that I left the laboratory. I almost didn't come back…not because of these guys!" Alphys quickly assured, "But because I was afraid of finally admitting the truth to somebody…"

"This is all _very_ shocking Alphys!" Mettaton gasped.

 _Is he recording this right now?_ Frisk narrowed their eyes and glared at Mettaton. They made a note to confront Mettaton before leaving the True Lab. Alphys' secret was a nasty one, but she didn't deserve to have it broadcasted all over the Underground as some stupid TV show.

"But we won't tell anyone…" Napstablook piped up. Mettaton's mouth dropped open in shock. "I…understand being afraid…and Mettaton is such a good monster that he wouldn't tell anyone, right?" Napstablook turned to Mettaton with such absolute trust shining in his eyes that Frisk covered their mouth to hide a smile. Mettaton was stunned and his mouth flapped as he obviously was trying to find some argument, but failed.

"No, no I'm not going to ask you to do that." Alphys smiled sadly at Napstablook. "It's," Alphys took a deep breath, "It's time. Time for them to go home, and time for me to tell the truth. I-I'm scared. Scared everyone will hate me – shun me…but I have to do it."

Alphys turned to Frisk. "I've been watching you since you've come out of the ruins and I've seen how you've always tried to do the right thing. Y-You protect others and you always confront problems head on. Heh, you're a lot like Undyne in those ways." Frisk made a face in response to that and Alphys chuckled. "And you know, I-I've always wanted to be like that. Now I'm finally being given the push to be the person I want to be."

Without thinking, Frisk reached out and took Alphys' hand in their own. They squeezed it comfortingly and were surprised to see tears gathering in Alphys' eyes.

"Are you trying to tell me it will be alright?" Alphys asked Frisk quietly.

Frisk nodded and without thinking, crowded in and gave Alphys a quick hug. They understood her fear, but they also understood her hope of being able to do the right thing after she had done so much wrong.

"Thank you." Alphys leaned into the hug and sniffled.

Frisk jumped a little when they felt a sudden pressure at their back, but when they looked they saw Memoryhead nestling against them and the rest of the monsters coming in for a group hug.

"Awww…" Even Napstablook floated over to join. Mettaton stood off to the side, looking warily at the monsters of the True Lab but Frisk caught a small flash of jealousy when Napstablook joined the hug. He didn't move over to join though. Frisk rolled their eyes and despite their annoyance with the robot, they reached out a hand and gestured to Mettaton.

"Well, if I must." Mettaton huffed, but scampered quickly over and positioned himself next to Napstablook. "After all Alphys, I still need your help with my body so I'm not letting you go anywhere anytime soon!" Mettaton sniffed.

"Thank you…everyone, thank you." Alphys said.

* * *

Once the cuddle party broke up, Alphys ushered everybody upstairs. Frisk felt nothing but sweet relief to finally be out of the True Lab, but their relief was nothing compared to the joy of the monsters who had spent the last few years stuck in the basement. All of them were already delightedly exploring Alphys' upstairs laboratory, except for Endogeny who had apparently found a bag of dog food and was eagerly chowing down. Frisk was glad to see that Alphys had apparently turned off the monitor with their face on it.

Frisk, Alphys, Mettaton and Napstablook were standing off to the side. Mettaton was eagerly staying close to Napstablook, while Alphys was fussing with the details of what she needed to do next. Frisk was taking in all of the mayhem, slightly dazed after everything that had occurred.

"By the way, isn't it about time you gave me my phone back?" Mettaton asked Frisk.

Frisk clutched the cellphone reluctantly. They had all of their things back so they technically didn't need to hang onto it, but the phone was easier and faster to use for communication than their notebook.

"Have you been using Mettaton's cellphone all this time?" Alphys asked, distracted from her task. Frisk nodded and passed the phone back to Mettaton, watching wistfully as he tucked it away. "You don't have one of your own?" Alphys asked. Frisk shook their head.

"That's terrible! Why didn't you say so?" Alphys said. She ran upstairs and a few moment later came back down holding another phone in her claws. "I have plenty of spares around! Let me just-" Alphys turned on the phone and tapped away at it. Frisk waited eagerly and almost grabbed the phone out of Alphys' hands when she handed it to them.

The phone Alphys handed Frisk was the same model as Mettaton's. Frisk happily tapped at it, exploring their phone.

"I made sure to add me, Mettaton, and Undyne in your contacts," Alphys told Frisk, "a-and I created an UnderNet account for you and made sure you're following all the best accounts."

"You put your own on there, didn't you?" Mettaton frowned at Alphys, "I hope you made sure they're following me as well!"

"I-I also have an UnderNet account…if you don't want to follow me that's fine…but I post music…" Napstablook told Frisk shyly. Frisk added the ghost with a smile and Napstablook smiled back.

'By the way, what happened to Undyne?' Frisk texted Alphys. She jumped in surprise when her ringtone went off, but blushed, embarrassed, when she saw who the message was from.

"I-I left her in the care of Sans and Papyrus." Alphys admitted out loud. Frisk's heartbeat sped up a little bit. "I was sure surprised to see them! I think they were surprised to see me as well – although maybe they were just shocked at how badly injured Undyne was…" Alphys added sadly. "B-But I didn't stay to talk long, I was so scared that something bad was going to happen to you guys so I rushed out after telling them to take care of Undyne and I met Napstablook on the way…" Alphys paused and then gasped and slapped her claws to her face, "I never explained to them what was going on! I just told them to stay with Undyne and left! They must be so angry at me!" Alphys wailed.

Ah, so that was what happened to the skeleton brothers after Frisk left. Frisk looked down at the ground and tried to ignore the tiny voice in the back of their head that whispered, _were they coming to find me?_

"You and Frisk will just have to go explain things to them, right?" Mettaton asked in a bored tone. "Obviously I can't come with, I've been away from my public _far_ too long."

"…I should go back home and check on the snails." Napstablook muttered.

" _Or_ you could come see my hotel darling!" Mettaton suggested eagerly. "You just have not lived until you've tried steak in the shape of my face!"

"But I can't leave them up here alone or take them to Undyne's house while she's ill!" Alphys said, gesturing at the monsters who were still wreaking havoc upon her lab. "And getting them settled back in at their own homes is going to take time!" Alphys kneaded her forehead with her claws as she fussed.

"I…I can watch them at my house for you…if that's ok." Napstablook suggested. Alphys eagerly accepted his proposition and began to gather up the monsters. While she was distracted, Frisk quietly slipped around Mettaton and Napstablook.

"But what about my hotel?" Mettaton asked.

"Oh…maybe some other time…sorry," Napstablook said. Mettaton looked put out.

"Memoryhead, no! Stop messing with those!" Alphys shouted. Napstablook and Mettaton turned towards the sound of the commotion, which was luckily in the opposite direction Frisk was inching towards.

"Mettaton, I need your help over here!" Alphys shouted in frustration as she attempted to stop Endogeny from gorging itself on yet another bag of dog food while at the same time batting Memoryhead away from messing with monitors. The rest of the monsters honed in on what was happening and soon Alphys was covered with excited monsters that appeared to be trying to assist her, but in reality were hindering her. Frisk heard Mettaton snort out a laugh.

"I don't know if I care to get my lovely body dirty~" Mettaton teased Alphys. She let out a frustrated groan and even Napstablook chuckled.

As quietly as they could, Frisk slid open the lab door and left.


	16. Chapter 16

Hotland was not only boiling hot, it was also one of the scariest places to walk around in the Underground. Frisk stayed in the middle of the path and determinedly tried not to think of the lava broiling beneath their feet.

 _Do not think of scary hot lava._

 _Do not think of scary hot lava._

 _It's just…bubbly hot chocolate. That's orange and red and spouts fire on occasion and can burn me in-_

 _Do not think of scary hot lava._

Frisk was not being very successful at not thinking about the lava. In fact they were doing such a terrible job of it, Frisk could feel themselves shaking and bending slightly towards the ground to hold onto the nice, firm patch of earth that was beneath them.

Frisk nearly sobbed when they came to the moving sidewalk. Why was it, when the monsters had seen the numerous rooms filled with lava, they thought 'Hey, we should totally put in unstable travel methods and flame throwers everywhere!' Maybe it wasn't so bad for the monsters, but Frisk remembered dying numerous times from falling into the magma. On their top ten least favorite ways of dying, 'fiery death' was fighting for the number three spot with 'being poisoned by the spiders'. Which were also in Hotland.

Hotland sucked.

They managed not to die on the first set of moving sidewalks in the area. Frisk was feeling slightly confident as they stepped forward—

and promptly tripped over an unseen Vulkin.

"Ahh! So sorry!" Vulkin wailed, hopping around Frisk's body. "Hurt? Hurt?"

Frisk groaned and sat up. Their hands were slightly scraped and they had landed hard on their face so now they had a nosebleed, but those were just minor injuries. Frisk smiled kindly at the little Vulkin and tried to wave away any concerns.

The Vulkin freaked out when it saw Frisk bleeding. It started bubbling with lava and black smoke began to spew out of its head. "Huuuurt!" Vulkin cried. "I'll help! Healing magmas!"

Healing magmas…? Oh no. Oh no no no no. Frisk scrambled away at the lava from Vulkin's head bubbled and spewed out. Droplets landed on the floor with a hiss and Vulkin walked happily towards Frisk chirping "Help! Help! I help!"

Frisk shook their head frantically and attempted to communicate with Vulkin that 'healing magma' was in no way necessary but the poor little creature was obviously determined to help Frisk.

Frisk continued backing up and from their throat small noises bubbled up. "N-N-Nghhhh!"

 _FWOOSH!_

Frisk was suddenly lifted up and flung through the air by a hot gush of wind. For a few frantic moments, Frisk's heart stopped, and they stared at the red rock ceiling of Hotland before they crashed heavily onto the ground.

Frisk couldn't breathe. Their heart was making up for the small time of inactivity by beating a million times per second.

 _That…was an unpleasant way to experience the vents again._

Vulkin was still fretting across the gap, moving back and forth and constantly shouting "Help? Help! Need help?" But luckily for Frisk it seemed unwilling to take a chance on the vent to get over the gap. Even the inhabitants of Hotland didn't want to use the crazy transportation system. Frisk would have laughed if they had one iota of air left in their lungs.

Speaking of which—Frisk gasped and breathed in and out frantically. Their heartbeat pulsed throughout their entire body, making even Frisk's fingers thrum with energy.

 _I couldn't speak again._ Frisk closed their eyes and regret was added to the wave of emotions crashing over them. _If I could have just said something—this time it was just me who was in danger but what I need to call for help for someone else? If I hadn't been able to shout when Undyne was injured…_ Frisk shuddered and opened their eyes.

They had been taking their sudden inability to speak properly too lightly. Frisk wasn't worried about their own safety too much, they just needed to get to Asgore alive with their soul in one piece. But when it came to the other monsters, Frisk hadn't really thought about it. Frisk always assumed that they were the biggest threat to the monsters but they somehow managed to encounter dangerous situations that put everyone around them at risk.

 _Maybe I should try not relying on writing and try speaking instead._

"…"

 _Ok, first try was a failure but I can do better._

They sat up and managed to put a friendly smile on their face while waving off the Vulkin that was still puttering around. It still fretted after Frisk, but they chose to ignore it and moved forward.

Vents.

Vents.

Deadly lasers.

Vents again

Weird puzzle.

Back to the vents.

Another puzzle with bonus of deadly laser (or was it the other way around?).

Weird kitchen room in the middle of Hotland (seriously, who designed this place?).

Elevator.

Monsters enjoying hotdogs from an empty stand.

Stopping to enjoy hotdogs with friendly monsters.

Vent puzzle (if one listened hard enough from anywhere in the Underground, they could hear Frisk crying).

Black knights blocking Frisk's path.

Wait…Frisk stopped in front the knights and looked at them warily. Frisk recognized them as Royal Guards 01 and 02. The guards were talking about something and Frisk heart the words "too hot," before Royal Guard 02 noticed Frisk and nudged his compatriot. They both straightened up and marched closer to Frisk, who did their best not to shrink away from the large and imposing guards.

"Hello!" RG 01 said in a friendly tone. "You were that kid with Mettaton, right?"

Frisk nodded, remembered their speaking practice, and made a small noise in the back of their throat. Neither of the guards noticed.

"We don't mean to, like, alarm you, but we received a tip from a flower that a human child Undyne was escorting to the capital has escaped. They're wearing a striped shirt, so keep an eye out!" RG 01 said.

RG 02 mumbled something under his breath. Frisk didn't catch it, but his companion did. "Oh, you're totally right bro," RG 01 turned back to Frisk, "it's too dangerous to be out alone. We'll escort you over to Mettaton's hotel. You know him, right? Should be safe there."

 _No thank you, I'll just be on my way. I don't need an escort._ Frisk had the words all lined up in their mind. They were prepared and ready.

"Nnnnnn-" Frisk nearly whined the first syllable.

 _It's ok, give it another try._ Frisk took a deep, calming breath.

"Nnnnoooooo?"

 _Oh my gosh that sounded so stupid._ Frisk flushed and tried not to look at the guards staring at them in confusion.

"You alright kid?" RG 01 asked in concern. He stepped closer but was stopped when RG 02 mumbled something sharply.

"Their shirt? Like, what about it?" RG 01 asked. He studied Frisk closer and then let out a gasp. "Bro…I mean it is. You really think so?"

"Yes." RG 02's voice was just loud enough for Frisk to hear him this time.

"This is, like, a total bummer bro. Aren't they, like, Mettaton's friend?" RG 01 shook their head in disbelief.

 _Well thank you for your time gentlemen I really must be getting on my way,_ Frisk shuffled backwards.

"STOP!" RG 01 bellowed. RG 01 and RG 02 pulled out their swords and pointed them at Frisk. "This really sucks, kid, but we totally gotta kill you now," RG 01 said sadly. "Whether you're Mettaton's friend or not."

Frisk was pretty sure nothing they could have said would have prevented this situation from happening. That made them feel a little bit better about not being able to say anything. But they were still stuck in a battle, and they hadn't said _anything_ properly, so any good feelings about the situation were quickly washed away.

Frisk's soul emerged from their body, still glowing red.

 _How can I get out of this?_ Frisk thought desperately. Their memories of the Royal Guards mainly involved avoiding or destroying them. The Royal Guards Frisk remembered weren't chatterboxes who were fans of Mettaton. They were black knights of death ready to slash Frisk to pieces with their swords.

 _Well it's not like you haven't dealt with other monsters who wanted to kill you,_ Frisk reminded themselves severely. _Observe them and try to stay alive but don't hurt them._

One of the guards held up his hand and several barbed chunks of magic came flying at Frisk. Their magic was nowhere near as refined as Sans' or Undyne's, but it was fast and forceful. Frisk dodged desperately, trying to avoid having their soul torn apart. Luckily, only one barb managed to scrape them.

Both guards rushed Frisk as they were still reeling from the previous attack. Frisk's quick and keen mind came up with a brilliant answer to their struggle.

 _Run._

Frisk took off like a small and slow lightning bolt. Their only saving grace from their slow gait was the fact that both the guards were wearing heavy armor and struggled to keep up with Frisk.

"It's too hot for this!" RG 01 bellowed behind Frisk.

Frisk attempted to run faster but the heat was getting to them almost as much as it was getting to the guards. Frisk felt like they were moving slowly even though they were running. The air was thick and heavy around them and Frisk felt disgusted every time they gasped it in.

They turned, with the guards hot on their heels, and Frisk let out a frustrated cry when the recognized they had gone the wrong way. This path led to another infuriating puzzle and, unfortunately, a dead end.

The guards weren't as competent as Undyne, but Frisk could feel the prickle of a magical attack charging up behind them. There was nowhere to hide and Frisk was running out of sprinting space very fast.

Frisk naturally did the smartest thing they could do in their situation. They scrambled up onto the green poles that jutted out from the red rock of Hotland that connected hollow vents blasting steam out.

Green poles that also happened to be hanging right above Hotland's chasm of lava.

Yes. Good. This was a much better plan than just facing the guards and dodging their attacks again, Frisk realized the moment they were too far out to turn back.

Frisk's sudden odd move took the guards by surprise and they both stopped at the edge of the path, panting and staring at Frisk. On the other side, Frisk sat paralyzed with fear. They could still feel the heat from the lava all around them, but they were so high up Frisk could only see darkness below them. A fall into the abyss and then a fiery death. Yes. This had been _such_ a good plan.

"So…hot." RG 02 groaned out. His hands were grasping at his armor as if trying to scratch at an itch that he couldn't quite get.

"Yeah, that was, like, a pretty intense workout." RG 01 wheezed. Frisk could sympathize with them. They were also panting heavily from the heat and- _oh god don't think about how slippery your hands are with sweat. Don't think about it don't think about it don't think about it._

"I can't take it anymore bro! This armor has gotta come off!" RG 01 cried. He tore off his chest plate and adjoining piece so that only his helmet and lower body armor were left. In the back of their mind Frisk couldn't help but acknowledge RG 01 was impressively ripped, but not as impressively so as Undyne.

"That's much better! Dude, you should take yours off too!" RG 01 sighed happily and stretched a little bit. Sweat ran in rivulets down his white and fluffy muscular body.

 _Wait, is he a—?_ Frisk took a closer look at RG 01. They hadn't noticed it in their blind terror, but RG 01 had _bunny ears_. RG 01 was literally a giant, ripped, fluffy bunny.

Frisk gripped the railing tighter and pressed their lips together in an effort not to laugh. It wasn't the right moment to have a giggle, they were literally hanging on for dear life, but the image of a huge muscular bunny rabbit was just too ridiculous.

When Frisk thought to glance over at RG 02, they could see they weren't the only one looking closely at RG 01.

"I…uh…" RG 02's attention was completely on RG 01.

"Alright bro! I'm ready, let's do this!" RG 01 lifted his sword and magic began to crackle around him once more.

"Uh." RG 02 said.

"Bro? Ready? Let's do this!" RG 01 said again.

"….." RG 02 continued staring at RG 01.

"Uh…bro?" RG 01 lowered his sword and looked at RG 02. They stared at each other in silence for several seconds before RG 01 noticed something was wrong. He gasped and, to Frisk's amusement, dropped his sword and crossed his arms over his chest. The modest reaction was pretty funny coming from a macho bunny.

"I was, like, totally not thinking!" RG 01 looked around frantically for his discarded chest plate. "I left myself unguarded!" He spotted his sweaty chest plate and picked it up. But before he could put it on, RG 02 stopped him.

"I can't…" RG 02 fumbled and shifted his feet anxiously. "…need to confess…"

RG 01 cocked his head curiously. Frisk was listening intently, interested in seeing what would happen next.

"I…I like you. A lot." RG 02 said in, Frisk was sure, the loudest voice he had ever used.

RG 01 froze and cleared his throat, "Y-Yeah? Well we are, like, royal guard bros."

"No. I like like you." RG 02 clarified, deeply embarrassed.

"Y-Yeah?"

"You…me…we go together." RG 02 said. He reached out and took RG 01's empty hand. RG 01's breath caught; he squeezed RG 02's hand tightly.

"I know, like, exactly what you mean!" RG 01 said, "I-I feel the same way!"

This…was not what Frisk had been expecting to happen. At all.

"Do you, maybe, want to get some ice cream? And, you know, hang out more?" RG 01 asked RG 02. RG 02 nodded solemnly and RG 01 let out an excited squeak. "I know, like, of the perfect place! Not that I was thinking of this moment or what we would do next or anything!" RG 01 said, flustered.

RG 02's voice had gone back down again and Frisk couldn't catch what he said to RG 01, but both guards seemed ecstatically happy. They left together, still holding hands, with RG 01 chattering away and RG 02 nodding along, his gaze never leaving RG 01's. It was so sweet. Such a genial and heartwarming moment. They were so wrapped up in each other they completely forgot about Frisk hanging across the poles.

They completely forgot about Frisk.

 _They forgot about me?!_ Frisk's jaw dropped. Sure enough, RG 01 and RG 02 walked out of sight, never even looking back. Frisk waited for one of the guards to remember them, maybe come rushing back roaring and generating another magical attack, but no. RG 01's loud voice slowly faded away and Frisk couldn't hear anything but the regular sounds of Hotland.

 _I can't believe they forgot me!_ Frisk was relieved, but also felt...

Frisk didn't exactly paint the most intimidating picture, but weren't they supposed to be the scary human the guards needed to capture? At least the other monsters had waited for Frisk to prove they weren't a threat until they let Frisk go. But those two were so fully wrapped up in each other they hadn't thought to check back up on the evil human. Not even to push Frisk over the edge into the lava.

Frisk never felt so insulted in all their life.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Currently missing my regular beta reader. Since it's been a long time since I updated I decided to upload this ugly chapter anyways for now.**

* * *

With the issue of RG 01 and RG 02 solved (however abnormally the problem worked itself out) Frisk focused on their next concern- getting back onto the path.

Jumping onto the green poles hadn't been easy, but in their blind panic Frisk had managed to scramble quite far in a short amount of time. Now that desperation wasn't driving them, Frisk realized how very precariously they were perched atop the bars and how very sweaty their hands were and how _very slippery the poles feel ohmygodohmygodohmygod._

Frisk lurched a little and clung painfully to the bars supporting them. Frisk couldn't help but look down at the poles they were gripping onto. The green paint wasn't fresh, and the bars were rusted in several places.

Frisk gritted their teeth and tried to ignore that thought. It wasn't productive. Thinking about how old and terrible the poles looked wouldn't help Frisk get back to the path any quicker. They needed to take deep breaths and slowly move forward. On the plus side, there weren't guards chasing them anymore! Hooray! Frisk was on their own! All alone!

…With nobody there to help if Frisk fell.

Yes, this was okay! As long as Frisk moved slowly and carefully, they would make it back to the path just fine. Frisk felt determined. Even though their entire body was shaking, Frisk haltingly moved forward. Now that they were paying more attention, Frisk couldn't help but notice the poles shaking under them as Frisk moved.

 _Come on Frisk. Positive thinking. Positive thinking,_ Frisk reminded themselves. _How about, it's a good thing the poles are set sturdily into stone! That'll hold me up for—_

 _CRRSHKKK_

Frisk's head snapped up. At the place where the poles and rock met, the poles were starting to bend downwards. The rock crumbled a little around them and Frisk could almost feel their weight sagging down the structure.

"No." Frisk whispered. The word came out of their mouth without any thought. "No nononono."

Frisk didn't even move as the end of the poles snapped and rubble tumbled down around them. The entire structure lurched downwards, with the farthest side from Frisk still gripping onto its own rock formation. Their sweaty hands slipped, and while Frisk attempted to grab back on in midair, they lost their grip.

Frisk's gasp was swallowed into the air as Frisk tumbled down.

* * *

"That was a stupid move." Gaster observed.

Frisk did their best to send a feeling of anger, frustration, exasperation, and complete and utter annoyance to Gaster. Based on the goopy black smile Gaster had on his face, it worked but not in the way Frisk wanted it to.

"It's not my fault that whoever built Hotland was an idiot!"

"But it was your fault for climbing up there in the first place." Gaster kindly reminded them.

"What could I do? I was being chased?" Frisk hissed.

"Let me see," Gaster looked upwards as he pondered, "if I recall in one timeline you polished their armor. That worked out fairly well."

"I polished their armor? How the hell would that have worked?" Frisk asked. Gaster didn't answer and instead he just looked amused.

"Fine, you know what? Whatever. Just send me back and I'll try polishing the armor this time."

"Don't you remember our conversation from last time? I'm not the one who decides when and where you go back."

Frisk almost got the chance to ask Gaster to elaborate on his words before they were thrown back into the real world again.

* * *

To Frisk's absolute horror, they were once again clinging to the poles. The royal guards were gone and Frisk was alone, holding on tightly to their only lifeline. Any good ideas were promptly thrown out of their head and Frisk could only frantically move towards safety. The cracking noise echoed once again in the chamber and Frisk closed their eyes in defeat.

* * *

"Why was I sent back to that moment again?" Frisk shouted at Gaster as soon as he was within sight.

"I do not know exactly," Gaster said, "it has something to do with strong emotions, particularly determination, but after the accident I have been unable to complete my research."

"What?" Nothing Gaster just said made any sense to Frisk. What accident? Determination? Research?

"Hmmm, short questions but they have such long answers." Gaster said.

Frisk was so furious they could feel a scream welling up inside of their soul. They were angry, but behind that anger was an even stronger fear. Would they have to die over and over again in the lava?

Frisk couldn't think straight. How could they escape their fate of dying over and over?

"You certainly seem to think Asgore killing you and using your soul to escape the Underground will work." Gaster answered Frisk's thought. Frisk didn't even need to say anything before Gaster backpedaled and apologized, "Ah. That was not the right answer to that question at this time."

"Can't you help me? Didn't you say before you could do something?" Frisk could sense their negative feelings building up in their soul, and with no way to express them Frisk was going crazy. "How can you just sit there and watch this?"

"I have been helping you," Gaster responded, sounding surprised, "but there's only a small amount I can in that reality. I've been doing more to help you towards your goals in this dimension."

That made absolutely no sense to Frisk.

"So shouldn't you be asking for help from someone else in your precarious situation?" Gaster asked.

Frisk puzzled over Gaster's words. Asking for help from someone else? Who else—

Frisk gasped in a lungful of hot air as they switched back to the Underground once again. Automatically their body tightened as Frisk held onto the weak pole for the third time in their life.

Frisk stiffly held on. Not moving wasn't the greatest plan, but hopefully it would keep them alive for a couple minutes longer.

 _Ask for help? There's nobody here to help!_

A small whine slipped out of Frisk. Surely Gaster could have moved them a couple feet to safety! Frisk was surrounded by lava in every direction!

 _Well, not exactly every direction._ Frisk raised their eyes almost sarcastically to the ceiling.

And then stared intensely upwards.

There was another path above them. Hotland was compiled of multiple paths leading upwards and downwards. _When Gaster said ask for help_ —Frisk started heaving in great lungful's of air at the realization.

There could be somebody up there who could help them.

 _Alright Frisk, you can do this! No stuttering, I don't know how much longer this pole can hold me._

"Hel-Hello?" Frisk's lips trembled. Frisk closed their eyes and pressed their lips together angrily. _Louder. I need to be louder._

"Is anyone there?" Frisk asked in a hoarse, but normal speaking voice. They weren't sure, but Frisk might have heard a small noise from above.

"Please help me!" Frisk said louder. Was that-? Yes, Frisk could definitely hear a skittering noise from above them. "Help!" Frisk shouted one last time.

A purple head with numerous black eyes peeked over the edge. Frisk's eyes welled up with tears in relief.

"What seems to be the problem dearie?" Muffet asked. She cocked her head to get a better look at Frisk's predicament, her pigtails bounced around as she peered at them.

"Plea-Please help me." Frisk said again.

"Are you stuck?" Muffet asked. Frisk nodded frantically.

Slowly Muffet descended, carefully crawling down a thick, silken web. She stopped just above Frisk and stared at them with her enormous eyes. If there was one thing about Muffet Frisk remembered, it was her creepy eyes. They were so dark and looked as if they could bore into Frisk's soul. Those black eyes that had paled and nearly gone white when Frisk defeated Muffet (before her body became the dust as all monsters did).

"These bars are so old, you really shouldn't be crawling around on them," Muffet scolded as she suddenly swept Frisk up into all of her arms. "Spiders could probably do it but you don't look like a spider child." Muffet kept two hands on Frisk and used her other four to steadily climb up the thread. Frisk took in a shaky breath and pointedly did not look down as they rose.

As soon as they were on solid ground, Frisk skittered away from the edge and collapsed in a small heap in the center of the path. Utter relief washed over their face and Frisk gripped the stone floor hard with their hands.

"Children," Muffet tsked, "I'm so lucky mine are spiders."

Frisk nodded in absentminded agreement. Lucky. They were so lucky Muffet had been there. Looking around, Frisk realized they were at Muffet's bake sale again. There was something important about that that was niggling at the back of Frisk's mind… But all they could think right now was _solid ground thank goodness so glad to be alive no more lava death for me heehee! No more lava death for me heehee!_

Frisk had been under a lot of pressure lately and could be forgiven for their dumb circling thoughts.

"Well, now that you're here," Muffet said, clapping all six of her hands together, "maybe you would consider buying something from our delicious spider bake sale?"

Those words stopped Frisk's frantic thoughts dead. The bake sale. Frisk had an intense flash back to the first time they met Muffet.

" _Care to buy something from our delicious spider bake sale, human?"_ _The grotesque spider woman asked. She was standing behind a table fitted with a delicate lace tablecloth and numerous baked goods on top._

 _Frisk pointed their weapon at her in response. They wouldn't let their guard down now. Frisk knew they were getting closer to the end. The monsters were getting more and more desperate to stop them._

" _A pity," the spider woman sighed, "you've been scaring away all of my customers! If you had donated, say, all of your money, then I could let you go. You haven't harmed any of my precious spiders after all."_

 _Frisk didn't want to approach her but they also didn't want her to get the jump on them. Frisk was torn in indecision._

" _I guess your soul will just have to make do!" The spider clapped her hands and Frisk screamed as a giant spider suddenly descended from the ceiling and grabbed a hold of them._

" _Bring it into the web sweetums! Muffet always shares with her spiders!" Muffet turned and led the spider, along with a screaming Frisk, into an enormous cave of webs._

Money being a necessity in the Underground wasn't something Frisk even considered their first run through. But when they spent more time with Toriel in the Ruins, meeting and becoming friendly with the monsters there, Frisk had noticed another spider bake sale going on. Frisk bought a doughnut from the spiders and sat amicably with them while they ate the doughnut, but that experience triggered the memory of Muffet.

Frisk hadn't been sure if they would run into her again or not, but after their original horrific experience (three times it took to take Muffet and her giant spider down), Frisk chose to store away a special pouch of gold to give to her just in case. If they remembered correctly, Muffet was more interested in money for her spiders than anything else. With a pouch full of gold, surely Muffet would let Frisk pass unharmed.

That was, if Frisk still had the pouch to give her.


End file.
